King Takes God Checkmate?
by AcausalTrilby
Summary: Okay. A Self-Insert into the most overestimated character in One Punch Man. Okay the Gamer power, one of the most overutilized powers in fanfiction. But will it be enough to fulfill my dream and challenge the god of this world.
1. Chapter 1

**Congratulations you have been selected for reincarnation!**

I bemusedly watched the message that continued to flash across my field of view brightly and obnoxiously. I hadn't ever been congratulated for dying before but I suppose this was the kind of situation that only cropped up once in your life by definition. I still shook my head in disbelief at the way that I had been killed. Instead of being run over by a truck which seems to be the standard in Japan, I was instead run over by one of South Africa's famous taxis on that death trap of a road outside my place of work. I grimaced briefly at the thought of all the work that I left and the sheer hassle my colleagues would find in completing with it without me considering my laptop would also likely not make it through unscathed. That reflexive expression of pity had no true feelings behind it and I briefly thought of closer family in an attempt to elicit some emotional response that just didn't seem to come.

I guess Sir Pterry was right about the lack of glands equalling lack of emotions, although it doesn't explain how I'm currently able to think without a brain. I had been waiting for a good few minutes for the crushing weight of loss to hit me and it was a relief to find out that I wouldn't have to deal with it any time soon. What I would have to deal with was that floating list beneath the congratulations message containing a list of worlds that I could allegedly choose to be reincarnated in.

The list was rather long but didn't contain any franchises I didn't already know, although there was a notable bias towards anime; or maybe I've just been watching too much anime recently and the list is obliging me. I flicked my finger upwards and a couple more worlds appeared indicating that the list may contain more names than I originally thought.

"Let me see," I monologue to the surrounding white void. "Naruto, ugh; no thank you." I have no desire to be reincarnated in a feudal feuding child-soldier society that was plagued by grey on grey morality when not viewed through the lens of an idiot. Maybe I was being too harsh to the world in particular; but my morals balked at the idea of becoming an assassin for such a nebulous thing as patriotism.

High School DXD was next on the list providing the classical harem option and I reflexively forced down a mocking laugh. I absolutely despised the idea of harems and servitude and while the series rubbed me wrong in several ways it had absolutely beautiful world building with a rich world that as whole really needed to really learn to keep its pants on. Still the idea of taking on the overpowered 'good' guys consisting of ludicrously plot armoured Issei, the stupidly overpowered Sirzhecs and the weakened but still nigh-omnipotent Ophis did appeal to me somewhat.

One Piece is amazing and I would rather insert burning nails into my fingers before I could bring myself to alter the canon in any way.

Akame ga Kill was the next world and I hovered over it briefly before moving my hand away. The Naruto problem of being a paid murderer kept me back although it was significantly more black and white than the ninja series due to the presence of such tremendous monsters such as Esdeath and Honest; although if I was honest with myself Esdeath will forever be best waifu.

Bleach was also skirted past by me. While the series would always hold a special place in my heart the world-building was comparatively mediocre and even the promise of almost immortality wouldn't sway me to go to a place with pick a factions or die logic; even if it does have some of the most attractive women in any anime series in my humble opinion.

Ranma ½. No fucking way. I would rather reincarnate as a fucking root vegetable than have anything to do with that tremendous clusterfuck.

Fairy Tail tempted me horrendously with its friendship and good villains and large world and exciting magic and adventures and I dithered for a while before a symbol on the top right that I had previously overlooked caught my eye. The simple image of a dice taken from a 3d perspective was immediately recognizable and to its purpose ultimately intriguing. I actually really hate gambling normally because I was not good enough to make money off of it and I was stingy enough to hate losing money but I also had a habit of poor decisions.

Not the kind of poor decisions like taking heroin or sleeping with the bosses wife though; more the sort of poor decisions where you would order the fish and it would turn out revolting or you would choose a movie and it would suck. I ended up regretting a lot of my choices in life once I saw the results of the other choice, so maybe I should export my agency to the divine being that apparently had brought me here. I felt familiar hesitation slow my actions and so with a force of will I closed my eyes before hitting my fist against the dice symbol.

As soon as I did that I began to feel woozy as if all the related stress of my death suddenly became real and I realised through delayed mountains of panic and horror that the list began to wildly spin downwards showing blurred names that whirred past. I fought against the tiredness forcing me to close my eyes while trying to hold back the bile that rose inside my throat and failing to keep a clear head through the waves of sheer exhaustion that wracked my body. Darkness encroached in my vision and before I blacked out I managed to read the name that the list stopped on.

**Welcome xxxx xxxxxxx to the One Punch Man Universe.**

xxx

When I regained consciousness I could barely move my limbs at all. My head felt heavy and the light was blinding. Discordant noises greeted me and I felt myself held aloft by a man I could barely see. My first thought was that I've become a baby; an assertion that proved itself correct a moment later when I heard somebody announce the words 'Congratulations it's a boy.' This was a fact that I was immensely thankful for.

My thought felt fuzzy and sluggish and I wondered if it was because I had been reduced due to being a baby. That explanation felt wrong though considering the fact that it had not reduced anywhere near to make me the median among babies. Considering my body felt weak I would have to spend some time to evaluate my current status.

I jerked my head back sharply as a blue fricking window popped up in front of my face like a geometrical ambush and I was pulled further into the arms of the one holding me. I ignored the slight feeling of shock, instead taking the time to look at the object in front of me.

**King **

**The Gamer**

**Title - None**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 210/210**

**Mana – 330/330**

**Level – 1 EXP 0/200**

**STR – 1**

**VIT – 1**

**DEX – 1**

**INT – 13**

**WIS – 12**

**LUK – 25**

**Points -0**

**Money 0¥**

'King from the One Punch Man Universe,' I thought to myself. 'Well I only know of one person named King in the One Punch Man Universe,' I continued to muse. 'I suppose it's also thematically appropriate that I was born with the Gamer. It is also probably one of the single greatest powers in all of fiction if used appropriately.' There were an awful lot of gamer fanfictions on and they tended to range from mediocre to pretty damn sweet. I'd been recently reading through some and had been contemplating doing my own for some time now.

Just then I found myself swiftly swaddled and placed in the arms of a woman who slowly rocked me from side to side, a quite pleasurable sensation that nearly had me drifting off to sleep if it wasn't for the fact that I was a grown man and could prioritise. I looked up at the face of my mother while discreetly examining the blue screen and I heard the awed sound of 'he's got your eyes from my mother.'

It was impossible to move my hand at the moment and I didn't want this to turn into an issue in future so I focused on the tab and thought the word 'skills'.

**For thinking about a logical solution to a possible problem your Intelligence has increased by 1 point!**

I checked my stats and confirmed that my total intelligence had just increased by just over 7% testament to the power of the Gamer. The true power of the system was that it provided a large initial boost as well as gains that hardly diminished over time. In many fics that I've read the author was forced to either place the gamer close to the timeline of the main plots limiting their time to grow or to force them to decrease the time to train in some or other way.

With that in mind I started wriggling against the grip of my mother, my weak infant muscles contracting and retracting while my new mother gripped me until an announcement popped up.

**For trying to escape the grasp of a far stronger opponent your Strength has increased by 1 point!**

**For moving your body under great restriction your Dexterity has increased by 1 point!**

**For understanding the proper way to apply the Gamer system your Wisdom has increased by 1 point!**

For physical skills I would gain power by pushing my limits. If I operated at my maximum Strength for a certain amount of time I would gain power, even if it was something as mundane as arm wrestling myself. For Dexterity such simple things as moving my body or portions of my body at speed would allow me to increase it. For Wisdom being sensible and applying my knowledge would increase it while increasing Intelligence would likely be a matter of increasing my knowledge via reading or discussion. Vitality would be as a result of either taking damage or long workout sessions where my energy was expended. Luck must be gained by testing my luck and taking risks, but there was no way that I am going to try and learn that in combat. A simple thing like flipping a coin and hoping for a best result would prove adequate with much less chance of death.

**For creating a long term plan on how to maximize your personal ability your Intelligence has increased by 1 point!**

That was applying existing knowledge though not gaining new knowledge. So either the system is deliberately mocking me which would be disappointing or my understanding is lacking. Either way there is plenty of time to further my understanding as I age. While many people would balk at being reincarnated as a baby, the simply abnormal amount of time I have to improve my stats was an enormous boon combined with the power of the Gamer which was only limited by time.

Finished with my musings over the gamer system I refocused on the tab that was now open displaying the two skills that were available to me; namely Gamer's Mind and Gamer's Body.

**Gamer's Mind (LVL MAX) - Passive  
1) Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through.  
2) Allows peaceful state of mind.  
3) Immunity to psychological mass effect.**

Without this skill I would likely be very depressed and overwhelmed at the moment if my current situation is to be considered. Hopefully that provides some form of protection against boredom considering there will be a long few years before I am able to do anything remotely exciting besides improving my stats. In addition I am under no illusions that I am naturally a coward, hopefully this skill can go towards preventing any freezing in danger and cutting my life short as a result. The thought that I would have no trouble in this life didn't even cross my mind. The world of One Punch Man was already a dangerous place to live and the Gamer thrived on actual combat. That resolved I looked down at the other skill below.

**Gamer's Body (LVL MAX) – Passive  
1) Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game.  
2) Sleeping in a bed restores HP, MP and all status effects.**

There was nothing unexpected here besides the implications of no permanent injury and the quickened recovery time that synthesized with the growing stronger over time core of the Gamer power. As a possible downside it was likely that I would continue to be fine until I were to drop down dead at zero hp. That however could be very dangerous in some situations and I would have to constantly be aware of my health.

If I fully abused the Gamer power as it was meant to be abused I could probably easily gain the power that everybody believed King had in canon. Still if there was one thing that One Punch Man has taught me is that overwhelming power is nothing without a purpose to which one could apply it. I had no desire to steal the kills from the main cast or even much of a desire to save the people that inhabited the world, a fickle and lazy sort from what I had seen of canon. I had no desire to obtain a harem and One Punch Man was the wrong sort of series for that anyway. I could go the route of testing out my powers against stronger and stronger monsters but once again the universe came with the implicit message that eventually you would run out of those when you approached the top. My eyes widened with surprise as I realised that there would always be one being at the top exempt from those rules.

**Quest Unlocked!  
Defeating the One Punch Man**

**Objective  
Defeat Saitama after he has broken his limiter.**

**Rewards  
Title "The Strongest in the World"  
15x10****30 ****xp **

**Failure  
?**

**Accept (Yes/No)**

It was a beautifully impossible challenge and one that I could throw myself again and again at without a hope of completion. From what I had read of the webcomic there had been no opponent so far that had even managed to give Saitama a good fight and I relished a chance in being the first.

**Quest Updated!  
Defeating the One Punch Man**

**Objective  
1) Defeat Saitama after he has broken his limiter.  
2) Give Saitama a good fight that will alleviate his apathy.**

**Rewards  
1)Title "The Strongest in the World"  
1.5x10****30 ****xp **

**2) Title "The World's Penultimate Being"  
1) 8.3x10****24****xp**

**Failure  
?**

I smiled, my infant form making it come out as a weird giggle as I saw the updated quest. Thinking back on it if there was a character in One Punch Man that I actually did truly love it would be the titular character. As well as one could love a formerly 2d character with an incompatible orientation, I guess. I have always had a tendency to adore characters that are extremely powerful because they are almost without exception individuals with the ability to change the world using nothing but their power and their will. Often the beings are either villains that will prove a nightmare for the protagonist, an aegis under which the fledgling heroes can receive protection or a bystander looking down on both sides yet not pressured to join either. Whenever these beings show up they always drive the plot changing the situation, only balanced by their counterparts, sometimes.

I found myself smiling at the thought of the tragic hero who succeeded too well. When I first read manga by Murata I had loved story of a human who ascended above those around him and yet only found meaning in a struggle that he had long outgrown. 'I want to give him a good fight,' I thought to myself. 'Even if I were to die in the fight I want to be the person to break through his apathy.' Although, holy Crap I need to chill out before I start to sound any more like Nagito Komaeda.

xxx

**4 Years Later**

Four years had passed since I had first come into the world and for the first time I had obtained a moments respite from the constant presence of my parents. Not that they were bad parents by any stretch of the imagination; if inadequate compared to my prior parents. Breastfeeding was a bit annoying and I had obtained the skill **Pain Resistance LV 99 **largely as a result of the teething process. I had deliberately propped myself ahead of the curve for the normal development process; making myself appear merely prodigious rather than impossible. Crawling by 4 months, talking by five, walking by six, every single step allowed a momentary increase in my independence and subsequently better ways to train allowing me to grow abnormally quickly.

Strength improvements were gained by exerting force against my own body and the immovable earth, although I did crack the floor a few times when I was younger and could still work out indoors. Honestly speaking I had no idea how strong I was considering the forces that my body could exert would surely cause damage to my parent's house and bring up questions I was not prepared to answer.

Dexterity improvements were gained by continuous use of quick fast movements whenever my parents were not looking. My top speed was frighteningly fast but since I was cooped up in the house all day it wasn't easy for me to get a feel of how great it really was.

Vitality improvements were gained by continuous training and receiving my own punches. Unfortunately once again I couldn't tell how tough I was because I had only taken damage from myself over the past few years and while I know it was high I had no manner of truly testing out how much I could withstand.

Intelligence was gained by reading any of the materials that I had gained and Wisdom was gained by applying my knowledge that I learnt from them in a practical manner. Annoyingly enough I was firmly aware that I was more intelligent now than I was in my previous world, going from above average to easily ahead of the bell curve.

Luck was by far the hardest to train initially but I soon figured out that by testing my luck, in a manner as simple as a coin flip and a wager as small as having my preferred supper, I could increase my luck. Over time I increased the risk to a day without training and then a week and the condition not to lose those things to rolling a six on a die, and then two sixes and then three. I wasn't quite at a level higher than that due to the fact that while rare taking a week off training did happen occasionally.

**King **

**The Gamer**

**Title - None**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 8 520/8 520 (HP Regen: 170 per minute)**

**Mana – 8 080/8 080 (MP Regen: 162 per minute)**

**Level – 1 EXP 0/200**

**STR – 869**

**VIT – 852**

**DEX – 691**

**INT – 788**

**WIS – 702**

**LUK – 900**

**Points -0**

**Money 0¥**

**Skills**

**Gamer's Mind (LVL MAX) - Passive  
1) Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through.  
2) Allows peaceful state of mind.  
3) Immunity to psychological mass effect.**

**Gamer's Body (LVL MAX) – Passive  
1) Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game.  
2) Sleeping in a bed restores HP, MP and all status effects.**

**Create Instant Dungeon (LV1) – Active (Costs 10 Mana)  
Used to create instant dungeons. Stronger instant dungeons may be created according to level.**

**Escape Instant Dungeon (LV1) – Active (Costs 10 Mana)**

**Observe (LV15) - Active  
The ability to observe objects, people and abilities. At higher level more information about target may be granted.**

**The Power of Humanity: Gained at 100 base Strength  
Through diligent gains you have tapped into the power latent inside every human. Grip Strength and striking force increases by 50%. No recoil damage is taken when an attack contacts with the target.**

**The Strength of Beasts: Gained at 200 base Strength  
You have regained the power that humans lost when the first civilisations began. Twice per day you can sacrifice Intelligence to gain double the points sacrificed in Strength. Attacks can create waves of air pressure that does a fraction of strength as damage.**

**The Strength of Insects: Gained at 500 Strength  
Your body stands in clear defiance to the square-cube law and your Strength has surpassed what is physically possible. As a result of this you are able to apply the forces of your blows to your target in the manner desired. When you strike a person or object you can choose to increase the effective surface impacted, knockback a target without breaking it or at a penalty striking the internals of the target directly if desired.**

**Good Food and Exercise: Gained at 100 Vitality  
As a result of healthy living your body has grown into the perfect specimen. Negative statuses last half the duration and HP Regeneration is increased by 100%. You can survive harsh environments with little discomfort.**

**For the Weak: Gained at 200 Vitality  
Your overflowing Vitality makes it so that very little can halt your continued existence. The amount of sleep, food and water required is decreased by 70%. Once per day you can recover all of your health at the cost of lethargy and hunger afterwards.**

**The Ultimate Life form: Gained at 500 Vitality  
Your body has surpassed what should be possible for biological life forms. You can last for hours without breathing, weeks without sleep and hunger and thirst are never more than a suggestion. You gain the ability to manipulate your body in minor ways as long as the end result still appears human.**

**Angel's Grace: Gained at 100 Dexterity  
How many angels can dance upon the head of a pin is a question that's troubled scholars throughout the ages. With this skill you can tap into that legendary ability and stand on various surfaces. As long as one of your feet is in contact with any solid or liquid substance you can stand upright with little difficulty.**

**Lightning Reflexes: Gained at 200 Dexterity  
Your nerves in your body fire at light speed. Any attack from an opponent can be reacted to as long as your body is fast enough.**

**Perfect Movement: Gained at 500 Dexterity  
Through practice you have learnt how to align every muscle in your body to gain the maximum output. Speed of any movement performed is doubled and requires less energy to execute.**

I trailed off from looking it at this point. Quite frankly my skill list had grown absurdly long at this point although I had no combat skills to speak of due to not fighting any opponents and my health and mana had therefore not increased at all. If I was going to continue with this review then I was going to run through the brief time that I had. With a brief exertion of will I minimized the summaries and rolled my eyes down the remaining skills.

**Natural Genius: Gained at 100 Intelligence**

**Mind over Matter: Gained at 200 Intelligence**

**Ascended Mind: Gained at 500 Intelligence**

**Learned Sage: Gained at 100 Wisdom**

**Comprehension of Phenomena: Gained at 200 Wisdom**

**Supreme Awareness over the Natural World: Gained at 500 Wisdom**

**Coin on its Side: Gained at 100 Luck**

**A Bucket Full of Sixes: Gained at 200 Luck**

**Really Getting on Fate's Nerves: Gained at 500 Luck**

**Physical Resistance: (LV 69) – Passive**

**Pain Resistance: (LV 99) - Passive**

**Mana Control: (LV 17) Passive**

**Mana Shield: (LV 12) - Active**

**Psychic Powers: (LV 5) Passive**

**Jump: (LV 35) – Active**

**Acting: (LV 95) - Passive**

**Lying: (LV 43) – Passive**

**Stealth: (LV 53) – Passive**

**Accounting: (LV 32) – Passive**

Okay now it was getting to skills that had no bearing on the situation. Although I was a little bit hurt that my accounting skill was so low. I've always seen myself as great at my job and having the skills that I accumulated in my prior life dismissed so harshly wasn't the greatest feel. I was procrastinating however; my parents had made their intention to visit my aunt well known leaving their precocious child at home to entertain himself.

"**ID Create**," I enunciated clearly looking at the list that popped up in front of me. All of the various options were greyed except for the 'undead' option which I clicked on. Immediately the world seemed to crack and fall to pieces and I found myself in a semi-familiar area.

"Oh fuck this looks like Undead Burg," I said as memories of getting my posterior repeatedly kicked Dark Souls returning to me. "It looks pretty cool though," I had to admit. FromSoftware's masterpiece looked magnificent in 3d; although I could really do without the smell of death and decay that ruined the atmosphere. I was at the top of one of the ramparts although I couldn't remember this exact spot although the background scenery looked vaguely familiar.

A shuffling noise from behind me got me to turn and I saw one of those lurching zombies that moved slowly towards you and then lunge… 'Oh it's just done it.' The movement of the zombie appeared incredibly slowly, whether due to my **Lightning Reflexes** or my high Intelligence, or speed I couldn't quite tell. If I was back in my old life without the assistance of **Gamer Mind **I would probably be freaking out now and do something incredibly stupid and panicked. As I am now I calmly took a step to the side before calmly punting the zombie off the building.

**Critical Hit = 869 X 7.5 = 6517 Damage dealt to Hollowed Undead  
10xp gained**

**Through continued use the skill 'Kicking LV1' has been created.  
The amateur way of inflicting damage by using one's legs. This skill governs the proper way to kick without falling over and looking like an idiot.  
Effects  
10% increase in damage with legs.  
10% increase in stability when kicking.  
**

In the end the shambling creature was on a completely different level from my current state. Despite standing less than half its height my statistics were far greater to the point where I didn't even feel like wasting my observation. In the end I would need a lot more like that in order to level up or maybe I could try and hunt down something stronger. A few more of those creatures were milling around closing on me and I decided to make hay while the sun shone.

I bent my knees and dashed towards the first one completely missing it as I overshot and almost went straight off the damn ramparts. My speed was frankly overwhelming and while I had no doubt that I was slower than Flashy Flash I was still faster than the vast majority of beings I would ever face. Deciding to be a bit more cautious this time I walked more slowly towards the shuffling skeletons waiting for one of them to jump towards me again.

One of them obliged and I stepped backwards lashing out with a punch that stopped short of its target.

**Air Punch = 869 X 1.5 X 0.1 = 130 damage dealt to Hollowed Undead  
10xp gained**

The undead was vaporised by my punch and I turned towards the other 3 slowly inching towards me before lashing out with a Rankyakyu inspired kick bisecting all of them instantly.

**Air Kick = 869 X 1.65 X 0.1 = 143 damage dealt to Hollowed Undead  
10xp gained**

**Air Kick = 869 X 1.65 X 0.1 = 143 damage dealt to Hollowed Undead  
10xp gained**

**Air Kick = 869 X 1.65 X 0.1 = 143 damage dealt to Hollowed Undead  
10xp gained**

**The skill 'Kicking LV1' has increased to 'Kicking LV2'.  
The amateur way of inflicting damage by using one's legs. This skill governs the proper way to kick without falling over and looking like an idiot.  
Effects  
15% increase in damage with legs.  
15% increase in stability when kicking.**

'It seems like my kicking is levelling up by quite a lot,' I mused to myself. 'It looks like I'm well on my way to fulfilling my dream of being that asshole who fights with his hands in his pockets the entire time.' Looking at the dead bodies I was somewhat surprised to see that they had disappeared to be replaced by a small pile of coins. Well not that surprised considering it was something that was common to all stories involving the Gamer. Still I didn't really have a desire to engage in the kind of wide-scale money laundering that taking large amounts of money would eventually result in. Still a few coins that were picked up on the side of road wouldn't be an illegal venture and so I took the coins, putting the seventy three Yen that lay in the floor from the former corpses, before I left to hunt.

xxx

'Yes this dungeon was certainly inspired by Dark Souls, but not a perfect replica,' I thought to myself as I stepped backwards dodging a club from a massive skeletal form comprised of hundreds or thousands of mismatched bones.

**Vengeful Bones**

**Cursed Collection of Carcasses**

**Species - Monster**

**Health- 18 436/44 631 (HP Regen: 126 per minute)**

**Mana – 0 (MP Regen: 0 per minute)**

**STR – 226**

**VIT – 223**

**DEX – 126**

**INT – 51**

**WIS – 41**

**LUK – 12**

The results of a quick observation showed me that despite its ridiculously large health its stats were lower than mine in every way. Well health was a product of both level and Vitality so it wasn't unexpected that it would be higher than me considering my comparatively low level. I lashed out with at the sea of bones redirecting the force of my kick towards each individual bone splintering hundreds at a time.

**Critical Kick = 869 X 8.25= 7169 damage dealt to Vengeful Bones  
Due to unique nature of being the damage is capped out at 5 637.**

Interestingly enough it seemed that once a bone took a certain amount of damage it broke and the remaining damage was wasted. Still thanks to my ability to redirect the forces of my attacks I was able to do far more damage than I should. Theoretically the best way of dealing damage was to use an AOE attack but I hadn't developed one yet.

**Through continued use the skill 'Dodging LV1' has been created.  
The premier way of avoiding damage is not to be hit at all. Anything from punches to Ki blasts can be avoided by proper application of getting out of the way.**

**Effects  
3% increased chance to dodge an attack when aware of the source and direction**

'If all the fights are this easy in future I won't be able to develop fighting skills,' I thought to myself. Still this was only the first dungeon and I hadn't even reached the end of it yet. The club came down again and this time I side-stepped before jumping on the side and using **Angel's Grace **to ascend to the collection of bones that was reminiscent of a head. I used the head as a foothold, feeling the individual bones tried to latch on to my foot before I easily jumped about a dozen metres up and lashed out with a barrage of **Air Kicks** as I into the bony mass.

**Critical Kick = 869 X 8.25 X 0.1= 717 damage dealt to Vengeful Bones  
Due to unique nature of being the damage is capped out at 522  
Critical Kick = 869 X 8.25 X 0.1= 717 damage dealt to Vengeful Bones  
Due to unique nature of being the damage is capped out at 412  
Air Kick = 869 X 1.65 X 0.1 = 143 damage dealt to Vengeful Bones  
Air Kick = 869 X1.65 X 0.1 = 143 damage dealt to Vengeful Bones  
Air Kick = 869 X1.65 X 0.1 = 143 damage dealt to Vengeful Bones  
Air Kick = 869 X 1.65 X 0.1 = 143 damage dealt to Vengeful Bones  
Air Kick = 869 X1.65 X 0.1 = 143 damage dealt to Vengeful Bones  
Air Kick = 869 X1.65 X 0.1 = 143 damage dealt to Vengeful Bones  
Air Kick = 869 X 1.65 X 0.1 = 143 damage dealt to Vengeful Bones  
Air Kick = 869 X1.65 X 0.1 = 143 damage dealt to Vengeful Bones  
Air Kick = 869 X1.65 X 0.1 = 143 damage dealt to Vengeful Bones**

Notifications filled the screen and I mentally turned off all damage calculations as the ground beneath me tore apart and the bones were reduced to powder by the unceasing barrage of air kicks.

**5850xp gained  
You have gained 5 Levels  
Boss Monster Vengeful Bones has been defeated**

**For defeating your first boss of the Undead Dungeon you have received the Skill Terror of the Dead.**

**Terror of the Dead: (LV1) Gained upon defeating Greater Undead  
All things instinctively fear death. By conquering the undead you have gained the ability to instil the fear of death in others. Against those with strong willpower, and greater strength than you the effect will be reduced.**

Did the real King somehow conquer this dungeon? I wonder if it is possible to use this skill to scare monsters to death. Maybe if I do that I can avoid having to fight in front of others until things get really serious. I seriously dislike it when abilities are revealed without waiting for the appropriate time and I find that nothing ruins a good mystery like the truth. Take Saitama's secret after all: 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups and 10 kilometres of running after day. It was the most anti-climactic answer but any answer he gave would always be the same.

Nothing stirs the fears like something that cannot be seen, nothing arouses the appetite like an unsolved mystery and nothing stokes the flames of wonder than seeing impossible happen without an explanation. Knowing this I refused to ever reveal the Gamer, even if I were threatened with death or failure. It would be the most disappointing end to a mystery, unpalatable and unsatisfying. No I would build myself up to be King, the strongest in the world (besides Saitama), a being as mysterious as he was powerful.

"I'm talking to myself again," I say to myself. "My parents stated that they were going to be gone for about an hour and it's already been twenty-five minutes. If I leave myself a wiggle room of fifteen minutes that leaves me with about twenty minutes more in which to play around with my new speed and strength."

I stretched out my muscles experimentally noting how good it felt to really stretch out and use my body without reservations. I had already gained several levels and my body felt much better after this workout even if my stats had barely increased but I had no current desire to inspect my status screen and waste the precious time I had left. If I remember correctly I believe there was a dragon somewhere around here in the original Dark Souls although considering this is a purely undead dungeon it would more likely be an undead dragon.

I scooped the remainder of the items that the skeleton dropped, which included an unwieldy looking club and a small mountain of Yen and headed out to search for the dragon.

xxx

"**ID Escape**," I said coming out of the dungeon mentally drained yet triumphant and exhilarated. I had found that dragon relatively easy by basically running around at my top speed, which I still wasn't fully used to. Soon enough it had started raining flame and I had gained the passive **Bloodlust Sense LV1 **as well as **Fire Resistance LV1**. From then on I was forced to dodge the strafing dragon and its apparent hatred of me. The undead monstrosity had nearly **200 000 HP** and **Strength** and **Vitality** about a hundred below my own as well as a bone armour around it that apparently passively reduced the effect of physical attacks.

With my time limit I was forced to go on the offensive and yet the creature refused to land and get into melee range and I was forced to try and mix it up. I had first tried throwing boulders at the dragon by tearing up chunks of the castle and lobbing it at the flying behemoth. I gained the skill **Throw LV1 **from that but none of my attempts with the unwieldy masonry actually connected and I was forced to abandon the idea. My **Air Kicks **could reach it when it swooped down but it was such a short period of time and the penalty was so harsh that the damage was nowhere near enough to destroy it in the time period.

The solution was **Jump** of course and I ran up the sides of a nearby Bell Tower before launching myself on the side of the building and onto the Dragon. I quickly activated the **Strength of Insects **to redirect the force through the armour of the dragon and then the **Strength of Beasts** to sacrifice six-hundred of my Intelligence and push my Strength up over two thousand. From then onwards it was basically a rodeo with me punching against the steely armour of the dragon and the dragon doing everything to throw me off. Twice it nearly succeeded and I was forced to stab my fingers into the armour of the colossus and hold on, until eventually driven mad by pain or wrath the creature crashed down into a nearby building crushing it, me and the land underneath me.

If it wasn't for my absurdly high **Pain Resistance** I would have been in quite a lot of distress at that moment and if it wasn't for my high **Physical Resistance** I would have likely been a pancake. Unfortunately for the dragon all I could think about that moment was the fact that I had less than five minutes before the deadline and thus I used my over two thousand Strength to pick up the multi-ton dragon and with my muscles burning through the **Pain Resistance **I tossed the dragon over the ramparts of the castle.

After that the message for the defeated **Skeletal Dragon **popped up and I instantly used **ID Escape** to leave the dungeon and went back to my room. It wasn't a moment too soon as less than a minute later my parents showed up informing me that the event was cut short. My mother called me down for supper and I was lucky enough that this time I didn't have to spike my food with hot sauce and then after dinner I played games with my father.

'And that was basically my day,' I thought to myself. 'I tackled my first dungeon without my parents suspecting a thing. And I did quite well also taking down two bosses. Honestly it was exhilarating to fight them and I had never experienced something like that in my prior life, being one to shy away from violence, seeing it as unnecessary and dangerous in the modern world. I suppose anybody who basically acquired superpowers would feel a drive to use them, whether for good or evil and I am getting overly philosophical again and need to shut up and examine my spoils of battle.

**King **

**The Gamer**

**Title - None**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 9 530/9 530 (HP Regen: 191 per minute)**

**Mana – 8 900/8 900 (MP Regen: 178 per minute)**

**Level – 17 EXP 465/3650**

**STR – 872**

**VIT – 853**

**DEX – 696**

**INT – 790**

**WIS – 703**

**LUK – 900**

**Points -80**

**Money 9 600¥**

HP is calculated by taking total Vitality multiplied by 10 plus the initial 200 HP and on top of that I gained an extra 50HP per level. Mana is calculated by taking total Intelligence multiplied by 10 plus the initial 200 MP and on top of that I gained an extra 50MP per level. Base regeneration for health and mana was 1% but both had doubled when I got their respective stats over 100. Besides increasing the multiplier for health and mana each level up gave me 5 points to spend on a stat that I desired; that I currently had no desire to use for the moment. The system seemed to be relatively simple from what I had seen of it.

**Congratulations on reaching level 10! Please choose your desired perk from the list below.**

**Unarmed Warrior  
Through hours of training your body you have achieved a point where your fists and feet can substitute for weapons. You can choose to harden your hands and feet allowing you to block a certain portion of damage without losing health and to sharpen your hands to pierce through materials without resistance**

**Natural Psychic  
Through expanding your mind you have tapped into the natural psychic powers that all humans in the world possess but seldom exhibit. Reading minds, moving objects and even seeing the future is now within your grasp. Increases speed of levelling psychic skills, decreases Mana cost of abilities and increases effectiveness.**

**Monster Slayer  
Through the killing off elements unfriendly to humanity you have honed your ability to kill creatures beyond the reach of normal humans. Critical rate is doubled against monsters and you gain the ability to mark a monster showing weak spots that will automatically generate a critical if hit.**

**Sorcerer's Apprentice  
Magic is a power unheard of in the One Punch Man Universe but well known in many others. You become aware of the power inside you, you have chosen to use and obtained abilities never seen before on this earth. Increases speed of levelling magic skills, decreases Mana cost of abilities and increases effectiveness.**

**Mysterious Being  
Your mind is not normal. Whichever obsession drives you manifests as a physical form giving you power beyond mankind. Increases initial stats by five times but slows down stat growth.**

No fucking was I choosing **Mysterious being. **Besides the penalty which frankly wasn't worth it; I had no desire to ruin the plot like that. I wouldn't be satisfied with that level of mystery and I had a desire to fight Saitama as a human. I would not make Garou's mistake.

From what I could tell from reading the perks so far, all of them were based on archetypes that would probably be able to be customised at higher levels and yet were based on actions I've already performed. Since I have never used a sword then I would not have been given a swordsman class.

I looked down the list and there was a spy perk that I had received for hiding my skills from my parents, a scholar perk from all of the books I've read, and a sage perk for… I'm not sure what exactly. Wisdom is the stat that I'm the least sure about. From experimentation I can tell it has a bit to do with psychic abilities and mana. Of my three skills I gained when levelling up wisdom; **Learned Sage **provided a boost to learning skills, **Comprehension of Phenomena **allowed me to replicate abilities by seeing them for a certain length of time and** Supreme Awareness of the Natural World **allowed me to activate a state of mind where I could sense everything in the surrounding area.

I wasn't approaching this correctly though. I didn't train my body to become a warrior or a magician or an esper. I gained my power, worked every day for four years for the sole purpose of fighting Saitama. As good as some of those perks sounded they would not give me the ability to match the 'One Punch Man'. For that feat I would require something more.

"Dragon-Blooded warrior, Mass Slayer, Natural Assassin, Naturally Lucky," I said looking over a few of the perks but finding none of them appealed to me and then I blinked in surprise as I saw one that was perfect for my goal.

**Outsider  
Despite your birth here you are fundamentally a creature from outside the current world. By taking this point you are made aware of knowledge from a fundamentally useful power and gain a random power from one of the other universes not chosen. Using this power will damage your body initially as it is native to a different universe.**

"Random huh," I said looking at my 900 luck. With a click against an imaginary surface I brought the total luck up to 980 with little thought giving myself the maximum amount of luck before I decided to click the acceptance. The effect of a **Bucket Full of Sixes **besides increasing my critical damage from 2X to 5X was to increase my chance of events going my way and I would just have to rely on it. The button disappeared and like four years ago, a list appeared and began to spin, although this time I managed to remain conscious.

"Come on," I said to myself silently hoping for either Demon Extract from Akame Ga Kill or Enchantment Magic from Fairy Tail. The roll seemed to go on for way too long and even though I trusted my luck I began to get slightly nervous. Eventually the list ground to a halt revealing the listed power.

**?  
Requires 100% Attunement  
Current Attunement 0%**

"I don't know whether I'm meant to be disappointed at that or not," I said to myself. On one hand instead of getting any of the abilities I desired I got an unknown power; on the other hand I did enjoy a mystery and I would have fun trying to figure out this power. Putting it out of my mind for now I started inspecting the other pieces of equipment that I had retrieved from the dungeon which amounted to one massive two-handed sword and a shield comprised of bone. Each of these pieces had 0% Attunement on them and I realised that in order to unlock my new power I would have to attune an item up to 100%. The excitement was getting to me and I resolved to begin the process of Attuning… tomorrow. It had been a long day and even with the power of **The Ultimate Lifeform **I was still running on fumes. I made a note to improve my stamina when I next got the chance to enter a Dungeon before heading to bed.

xxx

**3 Years Later**

My God, attuning anything took a long time. Attuning a sword took far too long because I couldn't wield it outside of a dungeon and constant wearing would only increase the level of Attunement by a few percentage a month. In the end the thing that I Attuned was a simple pair of flower-patterned cufflinks that I got from a drop in the dungeons two years ago and had worn with me ever since. If I had known that it would have taken me almost three years to Attune then I likely would have been very ticked off but looking back at it now from current vantage I was nothing but satisfied.

**Shun Shun Rika (LV 23) – Active  
A replica of a power possessed by Orihime Inoue; these cufflinks are the physical embodiment of their wielders ability to reject the world around them. The strength of the wielders mind will empowers these while weak convictions will reduce their effectiveness.**

It was quite a shock to see them finally manifest a month ago but not an unwelcome one by any means. I had recently unlocked my latest dungeon (a dungeon covered in an abnormal amount of traps and walking statues) and I had used my new ability perpetually for defensive and offensive purposes. It was actually pretty poor at healing me due to the fact that my body wouldn't change when taking damage and it had in fact taken chunks off my health the first few times that I used it.

"And that is the correct way to spell fortitude," the English teacher spoke up right before the school bell rang, indicating some relief from the tedium of school life.

'1837 Intelligence and this is what I do every day,' I thought to myself with some bemusement. 'Besides most of these children wouldn't comprehend true fortitude if it tore through their weak bodies.' I was just being morbid, there was a world of difference between somebody who had been using the Gamer System for over ten years and somebody who had not.

**King **

**The Gamer**

**Title - None**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 21 390/21 390 (HP Regen: 428 per minute)**

**Mana – 23 140/23 140 (MP Regen: 926 per minute)**

**Level – 93 EXP 15 589/32 000**

**STR – 1 721**

**VIT – 1 659**

**DEX – 1 651**

**INT – 1 837**

**WIS – 1 685**

**LUK – 1 973**

**Points -120**

**Money 959 230¥**

My stats improvements were still capped by the insignificant amount of time that I could spend levelling up in the dungeon. My skills had shown similar improvements and I had received a special skill upon getting each stat up to 1 000. **Strength** had given me the ability to slowly increase my Strength as long as in combat. Vitality had given me the ability to share portions of my regeneration with others. **Dexterity** had given me the ability to find purchase on air and jump infinitely. **Intelligence** had given me the ability to speed up my rate of thought. **Wisdom's** skill gave me the ability to see a few seconds into the future when I activated it. **Luck** had given me the ability to store any instances of bad luck and convert them to good luck when I needed it.

It was a pity that a new **Outsider** skill hadn't been made available to me and my skills every ten levels had been chosen mainly from the **Unarmed **branch with a few **Psychic **skills and one **Assassin** skill. It was an eclectic mix but it served me well in the few dungeon travels that I undertook once the watchful eyes of my parents lapsed.

"King-San it's time to leave," the voice of the teacher spoke up. "You're zoning out again. Shouldn't you go play with your friends?"

I looked up at him before thanking him and leaving the classroom. Of course I actually had no actual friends. I am an introvert by nature and even if I wasn't I wouldn't waste my time with a bunch of actual mentally standard seven year olds. Not only would that be unproductive and a bit skeevy, I would not find it fulfilling in any way shape or form.

If I was to be totally upfront with myself, my life was boring right now. While mysterious beings were by no means unknown to the police at this time they were not a threat to the ways of life for most people due to their attacks being infrequent and for the most part handled by the police or army. Apparently in the manga there was an explosion in their population some time before the plot kicked off but I couldn't remember any exact dates or even what age King, which age I; would be by the time that this boom happened.

Besides training I had nothing to do and my training was constantly restricted by my time spent doing inane bullshit. No that was unfair to both my parents and fellow members of society. I had never displayed my ability and so my parents and teachers had never treated me as anything but a standard human. At a surface level my life was ideal and it was only due to my special circumstances that I was having problems.

I needed to test out my strength I decided and in that instant and I had the perfect way to do it. While mysterious being attacks were few but there were various ninja villages, experimental laboratories and at least one robotic organization that may have started before the series. However all of these were a bit too hardcore for me right now and so I decided to head straight into a tournament arc. There other reasons for this besides the fact that it let me test my strength in a reasonably safe manner. While my stats were high, in comparison to the civilians around me at least, my martial arts were virtually non-existent. Whenever I fought in a dungeon I had relied upon a mix of my strength and speed backed up by a few of my skills whenever I needed an edge and when that failed I would pummel them with waves of psychic force until their HP hit zero.

This all stats, no skill approach worked for me for a while considering the fact that I had stuck to fighting beasts whose stats were lower than mine but I had always intended to obtain some martial arts skills or other abilities that would serve as an effective force multiplier. By fighting and observing other martial artists I could glean knowledge from them and incorporate their style into the one that I will eventually create.

It was with a spring in my step that I headed for home intent on attending the next martial arts tournament.

xxx

**9 Months later**

**King **

**The Gamer**

**Title - None**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 25 460/25 460 (HP Regen: 509 per minute)**

**Mana – 26 510/26 510 (MP Regen: 530 per minute)**

**Level – 110 EXP 15 589/32 000**

**STR – 2 156**

**VIT – 1 981**

**DEX – 2 011**

**INT – 2 086**

**WIS – 1 857**

**LUK – 2 201**

**Points -205**

**Money 1 150 431¥**

**Martial Arts Style: None**

The above absence of martial arts was the thing that I hoped to rectify in this tournament. Through thorough research I had determined that the Super Fight that took place in the manga and anime didn't exist yet and that many of the larger, more prestigious tournaments that took place required the backing of a dojo or an already famous name to enter.

Lacking both of these things the R-City regional tournament was the best that I could access, although I was able to do so without an ID or even the most basic form of registration. Apparently mysterious masked fighters were almost a tradition among this world's tournaments although they seldom got far, maybe making it through the qualifiers before being crushed by representatives from the famous dojos. I had taken advantage of this and consequently The Cloaked King was listed as a fighter under bracket K. Not that there were many expectations placed upon me by the organisers. On the contrary I was sure I heard one of the organisers chuckle when I turned away. Although I couldn't really blame them considering the fact that I was wearing a black full-body cloak and chose such a chuunibyou name.

Still I had already resolved to win this tournament under the name of King and that was a promise that I wouldn't hesitate to keep. That meant abiding by the rules of the tournament and using only my body, refraining from all psychic attacks and not using my outsider abilities at all. Honestly speaking I regarded the pair of outsider abilities as a dangerous trump card that I still was a long way off making usable in battle. When I reached the level 100 I had gained the ability to receive a new outsider ability that I had immediately picked.

**The Spin (LV 12) – Active  
A supernatural phenomenon wielded by Gyro Zeppeli and Johnny Joestar; this power allows the user to produce energy by implementing a perfect or near-perfect form of rotation that can be applied towards a multiple of uses.**

It was a unique and powerful ability that I had to learn to use without a horse and would be worse than useless at its low level, but could be powerful if I managed to somehow replicate the perfect spin that would unleash infinite energy. Maybe it would even be an ace in the hole against Saitama. I smiled in anticipation of a great battle only to notice a shadow fall over me.

"Ready to be pounded into dust newbie," a large bulky short haired man with an enormous blonde moustache said to me. He loomed over me; almost double my height and I found myself slightly amused at his display. "I am Verit; my style is Multiple Destruction Fist. Many opponents have fallen to these hands. This tournament is going to be the one to cement my name, a stepping stone to becoming the greatest Martial Artist on the planet. You're my opponent in the first round and I'm feeling nice so I'm going to give you a warning." He leaned in closer. "Give up and don't make me waste my energy on crushing you."

**Verit**

**Stepping Stone**

**Title: None**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 6 200/6 200 **

**Mana – 0/0 **

**STR – 350**

**VIT – 226**

**DEX – 132**

**INT – 66**

**WIS – 32**

**LUK – 1**

**Martial Arts Style: Multiple Destruction Fist**

I couldn't help at this point. It was a recurring theme in One Punch Man that monsters and heroes would call out their strengths, backstory and reason that they would absolutely never lose before getting pummelled and while this guy was definitely stronger than most of the rabble there was no way that whatever martial arts he had would close a gap that huge. I wouldn't even need to take my hands out of my pockets for this fight. If all fighters were in his league then this entire tournament would be a breeze.

Apparently the man didn't take it very well and like every small fry in every form of medium ever he decided to display his displeasure in the form of a well-thrown yet painfully slow punch. Time slowed down as I focused on the punch and several ideas of how to react went through my head when I saw that suddenly I didn't need to. The man's extended arm was held tight by another competitor; a very familiar looking competitor.

**Bang**

**Martial Arts Master**

**Title: Silver Fang**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 862 425/862 425 **

**Mana – 0/0 **

**STR – ? ?**

**VIT – ? ?**

**DEX – ? ?**

**INT – ? ?**

**WIS – ? ?**

**LUK – 1 260**

**Martial Arts Style: Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist**

Any pride I had in my meagre abilities were brushed away in an instant as I watched the man who would in the future become the world's 3rd ranked hero; a hero that could take down multiple dragon-class monsters. Another chuckle escaped my lips and I realised that this was the man that I was going to lose against today; because as I am currently there was no way for me to defeat him, especially restricted to my natural speed and strength. I couldn't even see most of his stats the difference in their level was so large. I didn't even know that could happen before today.

"There is no fighting permitted in the waiting room," Bang said sternly and I realised how much younger he looked. His hair and moustache were brown and his face was smooth. "I believe you said you are competing against this man in the first fight, you can settle your dispute then." The man looked like he was going to argue, but a quick look at Bang was all it took for him to back off and leave in an attempt to salvage his remaining dignity.

"Some people's children really need to learn to calm down," I said inspecting the more youthful Bang that I could see before me. "Are you participating in the tournament today?" I asked him, not quite sure which answer I wanted to hear. While I wanted to be known as the one who won the tournament, I also wanted to fight Bang. He just being here was getting me excited to cross fists with somebody who was so much stronger than me. It wasn't bloodlust or fighting spirit or anything but that but the joy of fighting a boss way more powerful and reminding oneself to go back for it later when they've levelled up.

"Try not to kill him," Bang said to me giving me the once-over. He couldn't see my face but apparently he had not judged me too harshly and I nodded in agreement.

"Would the first participants of Block K please report to the arena," the announcer spoke over the low-level hum in the waiting room and I stood up in response.

"See you in the final," I said to Bang and he nodded seriously.

"You're confident," Bang started. "That's good, but don't let your confidence be your downfall."

I smiled at that although he probably didn't see it under my cloak and headed out to the arena. Man, Bang was cool to the extent that I had to seriously refrain from asking for his autograph or asking to join his dojo. I eagerly anticipated fighting him and was forced to clamp down on my excitement lest I rush my fights. After all my goal was to pick up martial arts, something that I hoped my** Comprehension of Phenomena **skillwould help with. The announcer spoke over the constant drone of the audience, who shouted out their many encouragements but I didn't listen to them.

"Are you ready to pay a visit to the hospital room?" the man who had confronted me earlier said. I had already forgotten his name, and I did not have any interest in remembering it so I simply placed my hands in the pockets of my full body cloak and widened my stance, ready for his display of martial arts."If you give up now I can still forgive you but if you…"

"Stop," I said having enough at this point. "You're just embarrassing yourself further and disrespecting me." While his speech was initially funny, it had grown tiresome and I was through giving him chances. "Show me your ability or leave and let somebody more competent take your place."

"You…" he said, apparently losing the ability to speak in the process.

"I was looking forward to seeing Multiple Destruction Fist but you have rapidly drained my enthusiasm. Either put up or shut up," I said with finality.

He didn't respond; instead letting loose a scream of rage before he dashed forward at a manageable speed throwing a punch. I twisted my body in response my **Dodging LV12 **kicking in as I analysed his punches. I was not unimpressed. While his stance appeared sloppy and unrefined and I spotted several inefficiencies in his motions, the movements that he made did appear to allow him to exert greater strength and speed than he should be able to. If this was the impact of such a poor level of martial arts then Bang is really going to be a monster to fight.

*Bang* went the sound of my knee against his chest and I activated **The Strength of Insects **to send him flying out of the ring without tearing his body into two pieces. I dropped back to the ground with my hands still in my pockets before I turned around and left the ring. Traditionally there would be some etiquette after the match but I had no respect for my opponent and I wasn't technically a martial artist.

xxx

I drove another kick into my opponent, some guy with absurdly long and flexible limbs who attempted to grapple me. He had talked big and insulted my small stature several times during the match but his stats were only slightly below my own and his martial arts rendered him a dangerous fighter. It had been an interesting fight and I had relied on all of my skills to obtain an advantage over the man. Using **Perfect Reflexes** and **Perfect Movement** in concert I slipped under his arms and shot a kick up into his jaw. That stunned him as I expected and I followed up by twisting my body and landing a flurry of kicks on his torso before kicking him right off of the arena.

Despite lacking martial arts I had a great number of unarmed skills and miscellaneous skills as well as a large amount of experience in killing monsters and other inhuman foes that I found in the dungeon. So far while more than a few of the fights had tested my limits none of them had forced me to go all out or even to use my hands.

"I'm glad to see that it wasn't only overconfidence from before," Bang said stepping up to him. I had actually watched a few of his matches when I had the opportunity to and every single one of them was perfect and effortless. His mastery of the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist was a display of a completely different level compared to that of many of the others he watched. I had been running the movements over and over in my head again, sometimes even during some of the more boring fights trying to figure out if it was worth trying to copy and adapt the style.

"I heard we are fighting against each other in the next round," I said to Bang. "I'm sorry that we won't have the opportunity to meet in the finals, it seems I've made myself a liar."

"I've noticed that while you are a powerful fighter you are quite weak technically," Bang replied with an invitation that I've known was coming. "After this tournament I would like to invite you to join my dojo."

"I'm afraid not," I replied regretfully but firmly. "No offence but I would like to create my own style rather than learn yours."

"A difficult path," Bang said and he looked for a moment like he was sizing me up.

"Nothing worth doing is ever easy," I stated firmly and Bang nodded in agreement before he asked a question that I didn't want to answer.

"How old are you anyway?" he asked me seriously.

"Old enough to both give and take a beating, granddad," I said and Bang huffed in annoyance.

"I will not take it easy on you due to your relative youth," he said giving me one of the surest signs of respect a martial artist can give.

"I'm going to make you work for your victory," I announced in reply. This was nice I supposed. Bang was far out of my league for the moment but he was also not the kind of person that would go so far as to do permanent harm. The only danger came in the fact that I never looked injured and I resolved that if I ever fell below 8 000 health I would forfeit the match.

The two of us sat there watching the next match on the large screens. I sat in silence and Bang was the opposite pointing out the various weaknesses in strengths in each style and how they compared as well as how experienced the competitors were. The older man was a wealth of information and I found myself enjoying his company. Apparently he had spent the majority of the fighting so far sitting and waiting due to the fact that as an established combatant he had far less matches than me and so he had been sitting there alone for a large portion of the day so far.

It was pretty surprising to me when the announcement came for our next fight. There had been a good while of waiting and watching involved and I had found myself falling into a relaxed state, which while far better than my boredom, was nowhere near the joy of fighting something truly strong. No words were spoken between the two of us, we only shared a glance before we exited the waiting room together and took our places on the opposite side of the field.

The announcer spoke excitedly about seeing Bang and 'the mysterious new contestant' fight and I took relief in the fact that my cloaked body had done its job properly. The referee asked us some questions that I had heard dozens of times before and I answered robotically showing none of the nervousness and anticipation I was feeling.

I knew that it wasn't for Gamers Mind I would be feeling nervous, terrified, anticipatory but just as my unbearable boredom was muted so were my other emotions leaving me with only a patient, yet determined feeling. This would be my first fight against one of the main cast and one of the stronger ones no less. Knowing this I placed my foot an inch above the floor and very deliberately took my hands out of my pockets, my short movements easily noticed by my opponent.

"3," the ref announced and Bang suddenly dropped into a familiar stance. His eyes turned piercing and he focused his full attention on me to the extent that I felt like a rat being stared down by a snake.

"2," the ref announced and I raised my foot another inch focusing **The Strength of Insects **to spread out the damage of the attack further than it logically should go.

"1," the ref announced and time seemed to slow down, all noise faded and I deliberately focused on the future I saw ahead of me disregarding the enormous strength in front of me.

"Go," the ref announced and I brought my foot down shattering the entire arena before throwing it up on the floor. Taking inspiration from HunterxHunter, namely the Gon vs Hisoka fight I then kicked a bunch of the shards towards my opponent. This opening was only the beginning to my plan as I had one more advantage that I had yet to play. Activating all of my Dexterity skills at the same time I leapt from piece of rubble to piece of rubble moving in a perfect 3 dimensional flanking manoeuvre while activating my stealth the moment his sight was obstructed. He still stood in the same space where he started his hands already moving to clear away the rubble flowing towards him that I knew he could easily dispense of.

My surprise punch was blocked perfectly but I had already expected it. Even while not facing me he was able to catch my kick on his forearm while blocking the flying rubble with his other arm. I was able to rotate my body and launch a kick to his side that he jumped over before lashing out with one of those complex movement that his style favoured that I was barely able to avoid by jumping backwards.

It was at this point that the stones had reached their apex, just under a second since the match had started and in two exchanges I had already proven that I couldn't win. It wasn't just the fact that his stats and HP were higher than mine but he also had a lot more battle experience than me. This is a bonus boss that I had no chance of defeating but also no reason to do so as well. I would never kill the famous Silver Fang and since that wouldn't happen then I wouldn't get Exp either way. The prize money was nice but ultimately not required and the fame that I would get for winning will eventually belong to me anyway when I mature.

My first shot was my best and while I could calculate many different avenues of attack in my mind none of them had a greater than ten percent chance of even coming close to landing a hit. I sighed but internally I felt relieved that this world offered so much more, that the summit was so much higher and so I straightened up, allowing the rest of the debris to fall to the ground.

"Giving up already," the older man said looking at me and never dropping his stance.

"I'm going to have to up my training when this is over," I answer before I lunged forward watching as his hands moved along curved lines to intercept my blow. I watched every motion using my reflexes to the fullest and even looking into the future to predict the movements. Nothing helped as my flurry of blows was deflected every single time no matter the angle.

I pushed off his arms before dropping to the floor again hooking my foot around a broken stone and flinging it at my opponent's head. It never reached as he caught the rock and crushed it and I stepped back for a minute, picking up a single plan that had a higher chance of victory. I dashed towards him spinning by body upside down lashing out with a kick and digging my hands into the mostly shattered arena floor. As soon as I felt my leg connect with his arm I thrust my arms into the ground and then pulled them up filling the arena with sand and dust making sight impossible. With my eyes closed I activated **Awareness of the Natural World** showing me clearly where Bang was and then I flipped up and activated my newest luck skill **Ultimate Luck** and released all the bad luck charges that I had accumulated for the last few months.

My fist somehow slipped through Bang's blinded defence and hit straight into his abdomen and I heard a crunching sound before the world turned red as a massive force threw me straight out of the arena and into one of the side walls. I felt concrete crunch beneath my back and a simultaneous fiery pain burnt through every single one of my bones ached but thanks to either **Gamers Mind **or **Gamers Body** I was able to stumble to my feet, extricating myself from the partially collapsed wall of the arena.

**King **

**The Gamer**

**Title - None**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 3 261/25 460 (HP Regen: 509 per minute)**

**Mana – 23 150/26 510 (MP Regen: 530 per minute)**

He had dealt over 20 000 points of damage even through my damage resistance. If he had hit just a bit harder that would have been the end of King. 'What a terrible end to a story that would be,' I thought to myself. Even ignoring the grief it would inflict on my parents.

"I'm out," I begin to say only to be interrupted by the sight of Bang right in front of me, having moved faster than I could track him.

"Are you okay," he said as he gently grabbed my arms, appearing to check me over a few times with clear worry in his eyes

**Bang**

**Martial Arts Master**

**Title: Silver Fang**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 768 931/862 425 **

**Mana – 0/0 **

Wow, I had done almost 100,000 damage with that last punch, significantly more than I had ever done in a single strike before, and from the way he was moving it looked like he had broken a rib or something. Still whatever pain he was in he didn't show it as he gave me the once over.

"I'm fine," I said trying to calm him down. "I will be in a bit," I amended seeing his doubtful look. "That was an amazing punch," I said truthfully. While I wasn't going to fight him again until I could at least see his stats there was no point in not admiring such a well-placed blow.

"I should have held back more," he said with some self-reproach. "I knew how strong you were but when you surprised me with that last attack I 'panicked' and lashed out." The word 'panicked' had a metric tonne of disgust on it and I could see that he was likely to attempt to fix that problem in future.

"It's not an issue," I said and it was truthfully none of mine considering I was unlikely to challenge somebody that far above my level in a long time. "You have shown me just how far I still have to go," I admitted to him causing him to raise his bushy eyebrows. I flexed my body feeling just how omnipresent the pain was as well as the how effective the slow healing process was turning out to be. "It has been a pleasure," I finished giving him a bow, a gesture of a match well fought. He returned it and turned around and walked off, having had more than my fill of the day. Some medical workers and other guys tried to stop me when I entered the waiting room but I easily evaded them before taking advantage of my stealth and heading home.

**xxx**

**7 years later**

Sometimes I envied monsters. In a world that seeks for meaning in religion and money and other trappings and decries any value past the superficial it was interesting to see beings that abandoned all other interests to pursue their one perfect goal. Sure this often led to hideous mutations, becoming an enemy of humanity, and instilled them with a habit of making corny speeches but it was hard to feel sorry for people that were this happy with their purpose in life.

"I am the greatest brewer in the world," the walking cask said as streams of pressurised alcohol tore through the buildings on either side. "You have never tasted something so delectable, so refreshing. I will make you acknowledge my superiority."

'It was actually pretty admirable,' I thought as I dodged the liquid beer bullets. He threw away his looks, his future, his family all to further his twisted obsession; but in the end he looks happy. 'I wonder if I will look that happy when I finally manage to fight Saitama,' I thought before putting it out of my mind. 'To live is to have a goal to aim for, dreams to look towards, desires to satiate and happiness to grasp and keep close. Thus it could be said that compared to the grey humans running away from the monster was the most alive being in the area as it indulged its current happiness at the cost of its future.

"I won't forget you," I said out loud to it moments before I activated **Absolute Spin Style** and tore it to pieces with my hands before going into stealth mode again. My last words to it were by no means a lie. Despite being ridiculous and weak the monster was likely going to stick in my mind for a long, long time. Seeing brown liquid on my hands I raised them to my mouth and took a long lick.

"That really was delicious," I thought as I looked down at the body of my former foe before I turned around and walked away. This year was the year when the rate of monster appearances started escalating. So far the panic was subdued as humans did what they did best and rationalized the problems as temporary statistical anomaly. At fourteen years of age, nearly fifteen, my parents had decided I was more than old enough to tolerate spending holidays alone and I had indulged their lapses of oversight by travelling around and hunting these Mysterious Beings.

So far I had found them pretty disappointing. None of them that I had run into had been much above wolf level with one or two tigers, all of which were easily below me and were in fact weaker than many of the monsters I fought in dungeons. In fact not even a month ago I had unlocked a special psychic dungeon filled with creatures that did their best to show me just how comparatively inadequate my psychic powers were. And by creatures I mean Pokémon and by comparatively inadequate I mean Mewtwo dropped a fucking mountain on me.

A tingle on the back of my neck, a slight change in the wind and a shift in my luck was all the warning that I got and I turned stepping slightly backwards and catching the blade that was flung at my unguarded back. On closer inspection the blade was a kunai. According to the internet they were actually primarily used for climbing and stabbing but what the hell do I know about ninjas. 'Oh well, it looked like I was going to be getting a more up to date education,' I thought as I watched a trio of shadows step into the main street opposite me.

"I believe you dropped this," I said as I **observed** the trio.

**Darkness Shadow **

**Ninja**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 12 365/12 365 **

**Mana – 0/0 **

**STR – 6 821**

**VIT – 5 651**

**DEX – 7 320**

**INT – 4 501**

**WIS – 3 215 **

**LUK – 1 622**

**Martial Arts Style: Shadow Assassination Style**

The other two ninja's were called **Thunderbolt Lightning **and **Pelagic Ocean**, a testament to the shitty naming conventions of their village. All of their stats were around that of the first ninja I **observed** which was incredibly high but nowhere near the power of those at the top of the world. A title which I still cannot claim for myself yet. To be honest these ninjas might be able to scrape into S-Class if Sweet Mask wasn't guarding the gate, there was no way I could afford to take them easily.

"Did you drop this?" I asked calmly as I swung the kunai around the hoop on my finger. I walked forward towards them casually. I noticed that despite me approaching they didn't take a step backwards which spoke of either good training or a genuine confidence in their own abilities.

"You have interfered with a request to take down the rampaging monster," one of the ninja said calmly and quietly. "To cover up the failure of the mission your death will be required."

"I can pinky swear if you…" I started but I could tell they were not listening at this point, instead spreading out in a perfectly formed formation. I sighed and dropped my gaze and I could feel as their attention instantly shifted, picking the point of time that I was 'off guard' to lunge forward. Two came from each side trying to block out my avenue of movement while the third fired off a volley of those blades.

According to the latest chapters of the webcomic ninja's that had left the village didn't work together but the trio proved me wrong quickly cutting off every avenue of escape. Actually now that I think about it these ninja may be knocking on the doors of S-class, in which case I would have to take them very seriously. I leapt upwards and saw them alter their attacks to take advantage of the fact that in the air I was vulnerable. Unfortunately for them they underestimated my abilities as I felt around for that little give that the atmosphere gave me before kicked downwards rocketing towards the ground, letting the ninjas overshoot me as I drew out the full force of my muscles and punched the ground causing a shockwave to resound throughout the area as huge waves of dust were kicked up and the ground shattered.

Thankfully for me, all the bystanders had already run away leaving the nearby streets bare; but I still saw a few of the nearby buildings shake and I made a silent resolve not to cause a calamity here. A hint of a shadow in the dust, a brief gust of wind and I was able to launch forward twisting my hands in a particular style that allowed me to take advantage of the **Spin** as I lashed out with all the power contained within my muscles amplified by the nigh-infinite energy obtained within the **Spin**.

Interestingly enough when I had reached 2 000 in all six of my stats I had unlocked the last skill **Power of Body and Mind**. This simple skill sublimated all of my previous skills that I had gained upon attaining previous levels of stats and incorporated them into itself before giving me understanding of how they previously worked. I now knew how to tap into all of my muscles for power, why standing on a surface required perfect balance and precision, how it was possible for the human body to recreate itself as a perpetual engine to survive without sleep or fuel or air, how the mind existed apart from the body in a realm of psychic energy, how knowing oneself and the world constituted pure wisdom and how luck existed and intersected with fate and sometimes won and lost.

It had taken me weeks to get used to doing it manually after I had done it automatically all my life but the result were evident as I tore through the stomach of an unfortunate ninja in a single punch. Even with his guts decorating the floor he still managed to stumble backwards and I took a step forward with the intent of aiming for the head and bringing his HP down to zero.

I revaluated my plans as I sensed an attack aimed at my back and I turned around, having to adjust my hand at the last moment as the attack curved in a particularly sneaky manoeuvre. My fist clashed against the short sword that the ninja wielded and the two locked against each other for a second before I was forced to dodge a hail of ninja weapons that were thrown from my blind spot.

The ninja with the sword came at me again and I let one of my cufflinks form into an orange sword that sliced through his sword easily before gouging into his flesh. With my other hand I reached forward and grabbed his shirt before angling him to block the knives. At this point I used my other cufflink to fire an orange spear of energy at him that he dodged and then was immediately hit by the body of his comrade. I moved to him, about to kick him and take him out of the match when I was forced to stop suddenly to dodge a dart.

I turned my head to see the first ninja, the heavily injured one, crouching with a blow dart that he fired repeatedly and I briefly regretted not aiming for his lungs. I stepped backwards catching one, two, six, dozens of those flying annoyances that were probably coated with poison. These ninjas were by no means weak but they had very little defence against my own trump cards and they were actually less skilled than me. I suppose fighting monsters every day of your life can imbue you with better instincts than even the harshest of training. Still that blow dart barrage was irritating so I reached out with my psychic powers and snapped it in two.

The other ninja had already extracted himself from the body but in the time that he was stuck the orange spear formed from my **Shun Shun Rika** had pierced through his body. I moved forward in that brief moment of distraction lashing out with my foot that connected directly with his head and I heard a *crack* that indicated that his neck had buckled under the pressure. The last wounded ninja I grabbed with my telekinesis before dragging him to me with no resistance. Without intervention he would certainly die, but I was not going to save him. He had killed many in the past and would likely kill many more if allowed to live. It was regrettable that he had been turned into this by the Ninja Village but it was beyond my ability to fix him. I did not bother asking him for the location of his former home, instead using my psychic powers to take it from his mind before I gave him the sweet release of death.

xxx

**2 Weeks Later**

"So the Village is here," I muttered to myself staring at the outskirts of an inconspicuous forest. My parents had called to tell me they had extended their holidays and so I had taken the time to scope out the location of the Ninja Village. I had actually found it about three days ago and every day since I had come to look at it before retreating backwards. Honestly the thought of actually attacking that village filled me with doubt.

The thought of leaving that unquestionably evil organisation alone frustrated me and yet I could not insure my victory against it. From the webcomic their master was being drummed up as an unquestioningly powerful mysterious being that was on the upper tier of S-Class. Even if I was confident that I could escape from that I was not certain that I could get away from the subordinate ninja's who might be lesser S-Class.

It was at that moment that a minor muffled boom sounded, indistinguishable to normal ears rippled across the land causing me to frown. That was the sound of a very far off explosion, familiar to me due to my dungeon exploration. I hate explosive dungeons but I can't deny that they have been good for my situational awareness.

With barely a seconds hesitation I moved, cutting through the air and sliding past the sound barrier in a second before accelerating towards the source of the disturbance. In a scant few seconds the relatively lush grassy environment gave way to barren land and I had to catch my breath as I saw two beings moving at incredible speeds; their impacts causing shockwaves that ruffled my clothes even from hundreds of metres away.

Their distance away combined with the speed that they were moving prohibited me from getting any details using observe but I hardly needed to when I saw the one of the figures. While there had been no good look at the number one hero Blast in both the webcomic and manga, what I had seen of him linked up precisely with the description. Not to mention there wouldn't be that many human monsters at around that time. That means that the enemy he was facing was the head of the Ninja village and this must be the day that he knocks him into a coma.

Even as I marvelled at the sheer immensity of their powers I never let go of the awareness of my surroundings and so I was not surprised when an arrow tore straight through the place my heart was a few milliseconds ago, before creating a sonic boom and causing an actual explosion a few hundred metres back.

"So the observer is not such a shrimp after all," a man with pink spiky hair dressed in a black and white striped jersey said as he landed a hundred metres away aiming at me with a plastic bow. "I am Bow Recurve and you have made a grave mistake. For the sake of my master today I will pierce your flesh.

**Bow Recurve**

**Ninja**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 78 926/78 926 **

**Mana – 0/0 **

**STR – 13 526**

**VIT – 11 361**

**DEX – 23 516**

**INT – 9 856**

**WIS – 7 936 **

**LUK – 2 615**

**Martial Arts Style: Sudden Death Bow Style**

"Are you sure you can handle him," another Ninja said as he leapt forward landing next to Bow Recurve. This guy was massive at over ten feet with disproportionately large hands and a bald head containing a large mouth with grinning teeth. "You are the weakest one of us after all. I Fist Hands will be a much better choice so as not to embarrass our master.

**Hands Fist**

**Ninja**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 226 541/226 541 **

**Mana – 0/0 **

**STR – 26 451**

**VIT – 21 368**

**DEX – 17 657**

**INT – 5 461**

**WIS – 8 978 **

**LUK – 1 114**

**Martial Arts Style: Crushing Fist Style**

"Both of you are already embarrassing the master", a third more slender ninja with golden hair and a pair of kukris at his sides said. I idly scanned him for a moment looking at his name and stats.

**Shining Glimmer**

**Ninja**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 178 888/178 888 **

**Mana – 0/0 **

**STR – 36 502**

**VIT – 17 361**

**DEX – 32 504**

**INT – 38 541**

**WIS – 29 100**

**LUK – 12 852**

**Martial Arts Style: One Flash Style**

'So he's like a weaker version of Flashy flash,' I thought to myself before my awareness pinged and I dodged to the side as a spear passed by my neck. The sneak attack was perfectly timed and aimed for my blind spot and would have probably done some damage if I didn't have the merged version of **Supreme Awareness over the Natural World.** I immediately lashed out but the blow was avoided and a fourth ninja dressed all in black darted away from my punch

"Stygian Umbra," the one named shining glimmer said to the fourth one. "Are your sneak attacks getting dull recently? You are shaming our master."

The fourth one started to reply but by that point I decided to no longer remain passive. A quick glance placed the last one as average compared to the other three and so having properly evaluated my opponents I stepped forward.

"You four are there to protect your master and help him escape if he loses, right," I said politely only to get four rather rude glares in response.

"A piece of trash like you shouldn't even entertain the thought that our Master would lose," Bow recurve said notching another arrow as he aimed it at my heart.

"Oh I'm sorry," I apologized. "I misspoke. What I actually meant to say is that when I kill all four of you and tear your bodies to shreds your master will die lamenting the uselessness of his disciples." And so as they floundered over my needlessly aggressive words I stepped forward with the noble mission of completely fucking over canon.

**King **

**The Gamer**

**Title - None**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 313 460/313 460 (HP Regen: 6 269 per minute)**

**Mana – 284 830/284 830 (MP Regen: 926 per minute)**

**Level – 602 EXP 173 564/864 560**

**STR – 32 458**

**VIT – 28 321**

**DEX – 31 051**

**INT – 25 458**

**WIS – 24 621**

**LUK – 27 777**

**Points -2 465**

**Money 25 634 892¥**

**Author Note: I actually had a few fanficitions that I started and just left alone. I've decided to start releasing a few instead of letting them gather dust. This is one of them. The reason I wrote this was due to the fact that when I wrote my first fanfiction I had a few people accuse me of writing a self-insert, which it most definitely was not and therefore I decided to write an actual self-insert out of pure spite. This is not my most original of ideas. I believe there are already a few King Gamer! stories as it is rather thematically appropriate but... yeah.**


	2. Chapter 2

My opinion of the Observe skill had changed greatly over the course of my second life. Initially I saw it as indispensable skill allowing me to gauge the enemy's power and consequently the danger they posed to my life. That definition lasted me for a few years of easily crushing those dungeons inhabited by monsters weaker than me, and then I hit a wall and I learnt something very important. Stats were by no means the only descriptor of a beings difficulty and the most dangerous beings were often not the strongest, the fastest, the toughest, but those that possessed unique abilities that I was not yet aware of. Poison, fire, acid and lightning proved to be huge problems when I ran into them before I built up resistance and some of the more unique abilities still plagued me to this day.

The outcome of this awkward transitionary period was that I came out of it with a deep appreciation for skills; ingrained abilities that could overturn a discrepancy in Stats or turn an even match into a one-sided beatdown. That is where experience came into play and why I still grinded levels despite them doing little to improve my Stats. Each ten levels the understanding I gained from my battles crystallised into a perk that would improve my fighting style. I had gained a total of 59 perks so far and I had mainly specialised in hand to hand and psychic powers with a smattering of miscellaneous perks that were so powerful I couldn't afford not to take them.

These ninjas had likely extracted every ounce of potential from their bodies and aligned it with their own personal style; pouring sweat and blood into their martial arts to concentrate their hard earned latent power into a sword that would reap the lives of the enemy; but unfortunately they were doomed from the start as I strode forward throwing a single punch.

**Unarmed Fighting: (LV 581) – Passive (Absolute Spin Style)**

**Spin-Style Air Punch = 32 458 X 15 X 0.72 = 350 546**

The ground buckled, the air broke and the landscaped deformed as a wave of swirling force swept outward from the end of my fist towards the direction of the four ninjas. It was a majestic sight, an inevitable upgrade to my initial air punch and I watched in anticipation as the destructive energy ripped the world to shreds in hope that it would do the same to my enemies.

I was disappointed however as the comparatively lacking speed of the energy was enough to allow three of the ninjas to barely dodge the punch, leaving the fourth massive one to weather the heavy blow. He turned around covering his head with his hands and trying to make himself a smaller target. It would probably have worked; the damage of the punch could still be reduced by the toughness of an opponent's body or by simply redirecting it to less important areas. Unfortunately for the big guy I had started moving as soon as I had thrown the punch, the energy of the blast did little to me, who possessed the **Spin** and was able to redirect the force away from my body.

A single punch in the back of his neck, imbued with the aforementioned **Spin** and my enemy was executed painlessly. Unfortunately I was still a ways away from achieving the **Golden Spin**. The accuracy that it required was overwhelming and despite my high dexterity I was still unable to achieve the pinpoint precision required. Still my strength allowed me to generate a large amount of energy initially which combined with the magnification of **Spin** allowed me to send destructive vibrations through the air creating a severely discounted Saitama punch.

As the air pressure returned to its standard levels I stepped sideways to dodge a familiar arrow, but contrary to my expectations when it passed by my ear it exploded in a fireball that impacted against the orange shield an inch from my skin. **Shun Shun Rika**, contrary to **Spin**,was a skill that was easily mastered, but had a severe downside in that it was utter shit for attacking. In theory it could cut do huge amounts of damage, the problem lay in the fact that it required more than just strong convictions to use its true power. To truly wield the skill offensively required that you hate and wish to utterly obliterate the subject, plain wrath wouldn't cut it; you required Voldemort levels of psychopathy to even begin dealing damage on par with my normal punches.

Still it was damn good at defending and I allowed the blastwave from the exploding arrow to carry me a few feet to the side. While still in the air summoned an orange shield in front of me and kicked off of it to avoid a black spear directed at my spinal cord from behind. I landed behind the ninja dressed in black and immediately bent backwards to avoid his pitch spear as it transformed into a scythe and he reversed the swing in an attempt to decapitate me.

I frowned even as I ducked below the scythe blade and I raised my hand to catch a dozen arrows with my psychokinesis sending them back at the archer. Simultaneously I was forced to summon **Shun Shun Rika **and shape it into the form of a sword to block the kukris aimed towards my kneecap, to be more specific I blocked the kukri that wasn't an afterimage; my **Supreme Awareness of the Natural World** proving indispensable once again. The scythe reversed direction at that same time stabbing downwards towards me and I rotated my sword to catch the tip of the scythe on the blade.

That awkward position was enough to delay me for a moment as dozens arrows from the apparently still alive archer and I was forced to pull out one of the trump cards I created; named **The World Turns**. By bending my own life force to form a near perfect S**pin** and then creating a psychic whirlwind with the same **Spin** I allowed my internal and external energies to interact and produce a wave of interference with spectacular results.

**King **

**The Gamer**

**Title - None**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 187 569/313 460 (HP Regen: 6 269 per minute)**

**Mana – 175 201/284 830 (MP Regen: 5 696 per minute)**

**Spin has levelled up.  
Psychic Resistance has levelled up.  
Energy Resistance has levelled up.  
Heat Resistance has levelled up.  
Burn Resistance has levelled up.  
Pain Resistance has levelled up.  
Psychic Powers has levelled up.**

'Should have just taken the hit,' I thought to myself as I crawled to my feet. Unfortunately that move forced me to let down my barriers to allow my life force (chi) and psychic energy (mana) to react with each other forcing me to rely on the strength of my body to resist the unstoppable destruction. Still it seemed that I was by no means the only one affected as I stood up from my position in a massive crater of about a hundred metres wide and about two dozen deep. Of the two ninjas that were fighting me only one showed any sign of movement; the discounted flash guy was struggling to his feet. I was impressed despite myself and I **observed **him quickly to discover he had just over fifty thousand hp left, a number that indicated that he had somehow resisted most of the damage, a truly noteworthy feat.

Just then a ray of heat and energy blindsided me and I slid back a few metres before I summoned **Shun Shun Rika** to redirect the energy beam to the side causing it to carve out a massive trench in the ground. I instantly locked onto the archer who stood on the side of the crater and approached instantly, dashing towards the entrenched opponent. Arrows fell like rain decimating the landscape beneath me but since I had him in my sight I was easily able to dodge or redirect the predictable swarm. In less than a second and I saw him snap his bow apart, transforming it into two large curved knives that lashed out towards me with staggered swipes in an attempt to throw off my rhythm and cut into me. He was fast, but still far slower than me and thus I grabbed the swords letting them clash against my psychic barrier before I kicked him with a **Spin** infused kick that tore into his body, almost severing him in two.

His Stats showed that he was the weakest of the four and his prowess didn't disagree, judging from what he had showed me he would probably be weak S-Class at best. His offense was good but once you got past that then killing him was a trivial matter. To wit, I raised my left hand and used my psychokinesis to pull him towards my palm before snapping his neck with my other hand.

Barely had I dropped his body when a spear struck my back, actually managing to pierce my body and scratch my epidermis. I staggered at that unexpected attack, it had somehow managed to bypass my **Supreme Awareness of the Natural World** and I twisted my body stamping down, causing the ground for hundreds of metres to shatter and explode upwards. That distraction gave me a split second to turn and get a look to the fourth black-clad ninja that I thought I killed; and my eyebrows rose in amazement.

"So you've disposed of the trash," the haughty looking golden haired ninja said; except now he sported a pair of enormous butterfly wings and a glimmering carapace covered his neck, hands and certain other parts of his body. As he spoke a pair of antennae twitched angling towards me in an aggressive manner. The pair of kukri that were by his side had morphed into a pair of serrated insectile pincers

"Rookies that haven't even surpassed the human condition have no right to protect our master," the black clad ninja said; his body seemed insubstantial as if made of fog or gas and his voice was accompanied by a dripping sound. Two light blue eyes were the only human features left and they regarded me with condescension. "Now that the novices have been taken down I hope you won't mind if we get a little serious."

"If you will permit me the same," I said. Despite my apparent confidence I had fewer trump cards than I would like in this situation. I remembered from the manga and webcomic just how much of a boost being monsterized gave to a person. With some trepidation I **observed** the two enemies in front of me.

**Shining Glimmer (Monsterized)**

**Ninja**

**Species - Monster**

**Health- 989 561/1 106 512**

**Mana – 0/0 **

**STR – 206 578**

**VIT – 168 377**

**DEX – 201 567**

**INT – 32 531**

**WIS – 21 608**

**LUK – 12 852**

**Martial Arts Style: Unlimited Flash Style**

**Stygian Umbra (Monsterized)**

**Ninja**

**Species - Monster**

**Health- 1 246 371/1 541 000 **

**Mana – 0/0 **

**STR – 187 601**

**VIT – 213 541**

**DEX – 208 447**

**INT – 25 401**

**WIS – 18 401**

**LUK – 8 450**

**Martial Arts Style: Abyssal Shadow Style**

That was definitely not a fight in my favour. In fact the momentum of the fight had overwhelmingly swung against me and they seemed to be aware of it seeing that they just stood there confidently waiting for my response. Technically I could just escape into my dungeons at any time, getting away from them easily but something stopped me. Flashy Flash had fought two monsterized former members of his village and dispatched them with moderate trouble and while these were likely stronger if I was also able to destroy them then I would be able to truly prove that I was at the top of S-Class.

"Alright come," I said as I took the standard stance of **Spin-Style Martial Arts**, reinforced my psychic barrier, refined my intent, started rotating the chi in my body, kept my psychic powers ready and formed **Shun Shun Rika** into two swords. Nearly one hundred percent of my powers were concentrated into this fight and I fully intended to give it my best.

The overconfidence of the overpowered is a truly consistent thing in this world it seems as the two monster ninjas gave me plenty of time to prepare. I raised my hand in the universal 'come at me gesture' and then I got promptly hit by a mountain. It was only at the last moment that I was able to bring up **Shun Shun Rika** to fend off the blow, but even so I found myself skidding back a few dozen metres in an instant. I caught myself and swung **Shun Shun Rika** hardening my will and reforming the cracks as I did so. This time the weapon came again and I was able to make out the blurry shape of a spear before it plunged into me with the force of speeding train; no stronger than something so mundane.

Even with **Spin **from my body outputting destructive vibrations that increased the force behind my swords I was barely able to catch the blow from the spear, redirecting it to my left but still feeling my health go down slightly. That world shaking blow was not the last one however and it was quickly followed up by one-two-a dozen more blows and I had my neurons firing at full capacity bringing me to a state of hyper awareness just to deal with that. Still there was some spare capacity in my beleaguered brain left and so after another fifty strikes I was able to summon up my psychokinesis; first forcing Black Ninja back a step and then flinging him into the sky about sixty metres. Except that was not what I intended at all. I could fling a normal monster into the stratosphere, but this monsterized Ninja weight incomparably heavy compared to them.

I had no reprieve as in the very next second the world lit up and I flew backwards as the ground around me disintegrated as the world was plunged into light that burnt away my surroundings. My MP dropped and I could feel my psychic shield buckle before I reinforced it with **Shun Shun Rika**. Even so I found my hand pierced by a kukri that immediately was yanked backwards tearing out of my palm. My eyes were still blinded by the light, but my senses informed me that a spear was converging on my position with the force of a missile and I was forced to jump off the sole remaining column of earth that had not been disintegrated by the beam of light.

Conventional wisdom stated that an opponent in the sky would have limited options to counterattack and the White Ninja took advantage of this advancing towards my sightless form at blinding speed. This sort of overconfidence was my favourite and I waited for the latest moment by kicking off the air and launching a powerful blow infused with the **Spin** at his abdomen. It was the first clean blow that I got since he had transformed and I was rewarded with the sound of cracking exoskeleton. Still that was far from what I desired when the fact that I didn't hold back on that punch was considered.

He retreated backwards slightly and I reached out to grasp him with psychokinesis, but was forced to redirect my psychic energy to ward off a descending spear thrust at me by the Black Ninja. It hit like a meteor, but my psychic power had grown to the point that I could catch a meteor if necessary. What I couldn't catch was the two follow up strikes as the black mist condensed into spears that stabbed towards me. I was able to rotate my body to avoid one, but the last one caught me on stomach and I felt my psychic barrier crack then shatter before it stabbed inches deep into my body and the residual momentum sent me flying down like a rocket deep into the earth.

**King **

**The Gamer**

**Title - None**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 107 408/313 460 (HP Regen: 6 269 per minute)**

**Mana – 165 391/284 830 (MP Regen: 5696 per minute)**

'This is not working,' I thought to myself as I checked my status deep beneath the surface of the earth. I never have time to check it in battle where a fraction of a second's pause could lead to disaster; especially in a battle as dangerous as this. The Black Ninja could condense multiple spears from the mist and the White Ninja could send out waves of blinding, destructive light from his kukris; that was not including the massive speed and strength increase that they both underwent. If there was one then I may have been able to lock him down with a combination of my psychic power and fighting style but I would never be able to fight the both of them at the same time; at least not without drawing my last trump card.

It was at this point I looked down at my body and realised that my clothes were gone, destroyed some time during the fight and I found myself blushing despite my aloneness. **Shun Shun Rika** acted fast and soon enough they were restored to their prime condition. Despite their high stats they were unable to do anything to give me even the slightest advantage against the ninja duo, but there was one suit of clothes that could.

I hesitated severely at this point. The truth was that I had obtained one more outsider skill when I levelled up past five hundred, but the downside was that I utterly hated it with an undying fury. In fact I had only used it in dungeons with non-sentient enemies and only for the purpose of evolving it to the point where it would have a less embarrassing look. I was tempted to fight it out still despite my rationality telling me it was impossible. Worse I was aware that this was the best time to launch a sneak attack as while the ninjas were alert their arrogance would cause them to underestimate me.

"Fuck this, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck you," I said addressing my complaints towards myself, the luck that chose to abandon me and the ninjas that forced me to use my third trump card. With deep reluctance in my heart I activated my last outsider ability and found my body being covered, though not enclosed to the extent where I would feel confident. In the same second I felt barbs dig into my skin imbibing my blood even through the toughness of my skin and I activated the ability **For the Weak** causing my health to rapidly swell until it touched its maximum. I stretched out my **Supreme Awareness of the Natural World** detecting two enormous auras above me and locking onto them before I activated **Spin** and started to drill upwards.

The truth of this world was that fights could be decided in a second. The scientific definition of power was energy divided by time and I wasn't a person to disagree. If anything I would probably bastardize the scientific definition of pressure and combine them to make the equation: Power=Energy/Time/Surface Area. In this equation the power would be the combination of my empowered fist imbued with **Spin**, the time would be the microsecond in which my hand impacted with the White Ninja and the surface area would be his armoured throat, which held for a moment before it cracked and he found himself one head shorter.

The sound of a critical hit touched my ears briefly and a truly absurd amount of damage flashed through the screen but I had no desire to tarry as I could feel my lifeforce start to drain away. I honed onto the Black Ninja who was just starting to jump away and I raised my hand summoning towards me with psychic power and at the same time allowing red threads to lash out and grapple his smoky body, digging in and latching onto a core. His eyes widened in terror but I was too pissed off right now to even notice and I stepped forward summoning my **Shun Shun Rika** and unleashing slash after slash after slash, the force causing the dense core to crack even without the power of rejection. At the same time I exerted the full force of my psychic might until I could feel the object start to tremble. Finally with a noise like a gunshot the thing broke and I collapsed to my feet as I watched the Black Ninja fade away with a look of horror in his eyes.

**King **

**The Gamer**

**Title - None**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 24 387/313 910 (HP Regen: 6 278 per minute)**

**Mana – 87 501/285 380 (MP Regen: 5 707 per minute)**

Those few seconds had almost killed me and once more I growled in anger at my last and least liked outsider ability.

**Kamui (LV 13) – Active  
A piece of clothing composed of the parasitic alien substance known as Life Fibers. While they bestow incredible physical abilities on their hosts they also suck blood from the bodies of those that don't accept them.**

Unfortunately my god robe sucked like an American vampire, like a Michael Bay film, like a quantum singularity. Every second I donned the disgustingly bad outfit I lost enough blood to make a shitty slasher flick and the output worsened every time I moved. It was at this time that I heard and embarrassed cough and I turned to see the future number one hero looking at me with bewilderment in his eyes.

"Don't say a fucking word about the outfit," I said as I summoned more clothes from my inventory. "I'm working on fixing it." I don't even mind the possibility of losing sanity considering a berserk uncontrollable state is practically hallmark of a lot of protagonists.

"That's good," he said awkwardly before composing himself. "I suppose if it helps you finish those two then it's worth it."

"Did you get the boss?" I asked curiously. In the canon timeline the ninja leader was put into a coma but escaped and was eventually killed by Saitama.

"He won't be causing any more trouble," Blast said before raising his thumb and drawing it across his neck in a clear sign of just what happened to him.

"That's good to hear," I said before I observed the hero in front of me.

**Blast**

**Future Number One Hero**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 25 861 902/28 543 291 **

**Mana – 0/0 **

**STR – ? ? ?**

**VIT – ? ? ?**

**DEX – ? ? ?**

**INT – 261 051**

**WIS – 463 802**

**LUK – 81 691**

**Martial Arts Style: ?**

Those were some demoralising Stats. Even if I was able to use my **Kamui** without humiliating myself to death or having all my blood sucked out of me I would certainly come up short. Thankfully I had gained levels in the fight and I could subsequently gain the perk I had been looking forward to eagerly.

**Power Sealing (Req 25 psychic perks and 25 combat perks)  
Your mastery over mind and body have grown to such an extent that few can resist it save themselves. By focusing psychic restraint on your body you decrease your current Stats but make it far easier to gain increases in levels and Stats. By releasing the psychic restraints your Stats return to their normal levels. Releasing the seal will reduce control over Stats for between one and five minutes.**

I immediately selected the perk and activated it and in that instant I felt as if every muscle in my body forcibly contracted as if bound by iron wire. At the same time I felt my head grow fuzzy as my psychic power tightened and wrapped around my own body. I gasped in surprise and immediately checked my Stats.

**King **

**The Gamer**

**Title - None**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 28 530/313 910 (HP Regen: 6 278 per minute)**

**Mana – 91 267/285 380 (MP Regen: 5 707 per minute)**

**Level – 611 EXP 23 698/878 601**

**STR – 3 246**

**VIT – 28 321**

**DEX – 3 105**

**INT – 2 545**

**WIS – 2 462**

**LUK – 27 777**

**Points -2 465**

**Money 25 634 892¥**

"You're okay there," Blast said stepping forward and looking at me in the eyes. "Did you get a concussion or something? Should I call an ambulance?"

"No, no," I said denying my injury. "I'm fine, just tired."

"I can understand that," Blast said somewhat companionably. "I heard their secret hideout is in this forest as well, but after all this fighting today all I want to do now is head home and rest for work tomorrow."

"I have school the day after tomorrow," I said reluctantly looking at my phone. While I could wait for an hour or two and be at tip-top shape, the truth was that I just wasn't feeling it anymore. Gamer's mind was surprisingly useless sometimes and did little to prevent back-to-school depression and it would be ill advised to fight while suffering through that. Besides I wanted to go home and try out my new perk.

"So want to ha…" I started only to look up and see that Blast had gone. "Oh you're gone," I said, explaining the obvious as I stared at the empty surroundings. "Huh," I said as I turned around and started jogging back. My house was more than a few hundred miles away and I decided to treat the few hours before I got back as a leisurely sightseeing tour while I recovered my HP and MP. Lastly I made a note to find some way to increase my vitality since **Power Sealing** apparently did nothing to increase it.

xxx

**6 Years Later**

'A lot could change in six years. I had really become strong.'

These reflections were not by any means new. At twenty years old and as a full-fledged adult with no need for sleep I was able to devote large portions of my time in order to improve myself. That would normally be the case if I wasn't held back by the handicap of adult life in general and familial relationships in particular. To this day I continued to prove my ineptitude as a Shounen hero as my parents stubbornly stayed alive. In fact my current family was larger by far than my past life and while I liked them for the most part it had been annoying as hell over the past two years. Everybody seemed to want to check up on me and find out how my new enterprise was doing and it really dug into my personal training time.

"Two specials, boss," a generic brown haired man said as he held up two fingers. My employee, a standard inhabitant of this world with an unimportant name and life story, I had hired him after my first year of doing business using the money I had saved up. Yes I was now the proud owner of a small restaurant and also its only chef. Almost without thinking I flicked up two knives catching them and lashing out with hundreds of strikes per second, dicing, cutting, shredding and slicing. My preparation skills had reached such rapidity that when combined with my inherent speed I could rival an hour of chef work in seconds.

**Cooking (LVL 256) - Passive  
Allows the user to prepare food by mixing, combining and heating ingredients. Higher levels in this skill improve taste and nutritional value of food.**

Yup, as of lately my life had turned out like an episode from Shokugeki no soma; except you know, actually fun to watch. Still there were very worthy reasons that I started my restaurant business and they definitely weren't just to launder my money from the dungeons; that would be a gross violation of professional ethics and not the sort of thing an aspiring Chartered Accountant should ascribe to. Besides my absurdly high cooking skill was more than enough to earn some decent cash and I didn't really have a lot of expenses anyway.

A sudden knock on the door announced that my employee wanted to speak to me again and I slowed down my movements, turning down the stove briefly before I went to answer him. I had a very hands-off relationship with my staff in general, and kept interacting with them to a minimum. None of them were allowed in the kitchen because I didn't want to explain exactly how I was able to disappear from one spot and reappear in another.

"Yes," I asked as I left the kitchen, not even bothering to take off my apron. "What did you want? The lunch time rush isn't over yet." I stopped at that because at this point the reason was obvious. Normally at this point the diner would be full to bursting with customers who came to eat considering that I was a damn good cook. This time however the normal customers had disappeared and the restaurant was littered with shady looking men in blac suits.

"Boss they just showed up," my head waiter whispered to me and I immediately got the gist of the situation. This was the so-called extortion racket that I had heard affected many of my neighbours on this street recently and I had hoped that they would give me a miss, but it was to no avail apparently.

"Morning, how are you doing," the one in front, a slick haired one wearing sunglasses said as he lit up a cigarette. "We come representing the Genovese Insurance Company. Have you ever considered getting business insurance?"

Yup this was definitely an extortion racket. Normally under these situations I believe the Shounen thing would be to refuse and/or beat them up and then later have them and their masters come back for some form of revenge. In reality while I could beat them up with little effort that would likely be considered assault by the slow, stupid, lumbering behemoth that was every law system ever and the events that would then happen are the province of whoever has the best lawyers. In fact the existence of organised crime has always been an indication that the legal system has failed and the legal system not working has always been a good pretext for some fun vigilante justice.

"How much," I said not wasting the time. He named a number causing my eyebrows to rise. Apparently they were going all out to extort all the money from me that they could. Instead of making a fuss I simply reached into the cash register, discretely taking the money out of my inventory instead before I handed it over to him.

"It has been nice dealing with a smart man for once," the gangster said giving a welcoming smile as he took the money dusting off some of the ash from his cigarette on my fricking table. "I'll pop around next month again." Those words were the last that he said before he turned around and left the building, his thugs following as he left.

"Sorry about that boss," my employee said giving me an apologetic look and I smiled to reassure him.

"It's no worry," I said. "I've always believed in cycles. What goes around comes around."

"If you say so boss," he said looking doubtful.

"You can clean up the kitchen and close up the store for today," I said quietly before heading out the door.

"Boss, please don't go to the police," he said from behind me. "You don't know what they did to the last person."

"I can guess," I said to him as I turned back and smiled. "Don't worry. I'm just going home to catch that new show on the television; you know the one with that guy who loves that girl." I actually didn't watch a lot of television; it's basically the internet on a schedule.

I stepped out into the bustling metropolis that was Y-City noticing that there was a discreet crowd of my customers there. I immediately locked eyes with all of them counting them before I smiled.

"I'm sorry for that just now," I said. "The shop has just closed. Please go ask inside and ask at the counter for a coupon for a free meal to be reimbursed at your convenience."

There was a bit of grumbling after that but even more people simply wished me well and wanted to know if I was okay. That was the advantage of opening up a small restaurant on this street; you get such a good sense of community. While I had no long term intention of running the restaurant it was still six years until the Hero Association would even be formed and I had developed a sudden need for really good food in the past year courtesy of my last Outsider ability.

I watched the few customers who were forced to leave by the criminals head inside my restaurant. Then I took a right turn into the bustling streets of Y-City and headed home. Not much was known about this city in the Manga or Anime, or at least nothing that I could recall. The location was relatively prosperous; at least compared to Z-City and the area had a relatively low area of street crime. The roads were bustling at this time of but very few people blocked the path of a six foot tall man with three scars over his left eye. Yes; in the last six years I had received King's trademark scars and no; it wasn't due to some cheap easily avoidable battle in which I let down my guard and received a scratch in turn. I don't even think my Gamer's body lets me accumulate wounds normally. Instead it was an another annoying side effect of my new ability, but still nowhere near the most disturbing effect of that skill.

I lived on the sixteenth floor in a nearby block of apartments that were a relatively cheap rental. I didn't exactly spend a lot of time in them, preferring instead to fight in the instant dungeons or travel the continent. Speaking of travelling the continent the rate of mysterious beings had increased greatly in the last several years and I had often hunted them down when I ran across them but none of them were even at the level of a Demon ranked threat.

Still it wouldn't do to be complacent and as I noticed the slight lack of darkness between the door and the frame indicating a lack of locking I raised my level of awareness. There was no damage to the frame which meant that somebody had either picked the lock or shown up unannounced. Stepping forward gently I tapped the door with my feet causing it to swing open into the kitchen area and my last bit of wariness left me when I saw one of the kitchen cupboards swung open carelessly.

"Earl," I said in that raised sharp voice that every parent everywhere learns at some time. A scuffling momentarily assailed my ears and a young roundish face poke out from behind the corner.

"Uncle King," the freckled fourteen year old said as he ran towards me embracing me in a hug and I sighed and returned the gesture of affection. "I came over to play your games. You don't play them much anyway."

"I still play some story games," I admitted. It was an annoying fact that my reflexes were just too fast to derive any enjoyment out of many genres. I truly have no idea how Saitama ever lost to King considering his reflexes were far better than mine.

"So do you want to play a few rounds with me Uncle King," my younger second cousin said as he withdrew from the hug. "You've barely showed up at the family these past few years."

He was correct at that. As an introvert I already severely dislike long family gatherings and it didn't help that getting strong was my primary motivation in this world. Any second that I didn't spend doing some form of training felt like a waste of my time.

"I've spent most of my time in the restaurant, Earl," I said calmly as I strode past him leaving keys, phone and wallet on a table near the television. I took off my chef hat and entered my room to change.

"Granny says you don't really care about the restaurant," Earl said in that odd tone of voice children have when mimicking the opinions of their elders.

"Your grandmother has good eyes," I admitted as I changed from my working clothes into sweatpants, t-shirt and a hoodie. I slipped a cheap animal mask under my hoodie to put on later. The government got a bit iffy when other people started killing, nobody liked it when somebody else infringed on their monopoly, and I would rather not get into a pointless argument with any elected officials.

I stepped out into the living room again to see my young relative once again taking advantage of my lax attitude to come over to my house and play my games. I gave him a half wave as I stepped into the kitchen which he barely returned before I stepped out of my apartment and onto the sixteenth floor hallway. With a brief look around I typed the address of the Genovese Insurance Company into the GPS on my phone and got the message that it would take thirty-six minutes driving in this traffic and even longer walking; but neither of those things were what I intended to do. Instead I leapt from the sixteenth floor to the roof of the opposite building and started to sprint across the rooftops as well as my Stats would allow. A casual run allowed me to arrive at the location in under forty seconds and I caught my first glimpse at the people who had been so brazen as to extort me.

The building was squat and ugly with few windows reflecting a sort of plain utilitarianism that appeared functional but ugly to even a passer-by such as myself. If I had not been specifically looking for this edifice then my eyes would have probably slid past it and automatically censored the image. I put on the cheap fox mask that I had picked up before I left my home and jumped across from the roof to the third and penultimate floor of the building landing on a windowsill and then breaking through the associated window. I landed somewhat soundlessly on the floor; by that I mean that I touched down without a sound but the surrounding glass wasn't so graceful causing the sound of cracking and crunching to ring out through the empty hallway.

Still it wasn't loud enough for an immediate response but within thirty seconds of walking I started hearing the unmistakeable sound of boots heading towards me. Two men kitted out in full equipment and totting what loosely fit the loose definition of assault rifle rounded the corner and pointed the aforementioned weapon at me before pulling the trigger and unloading a stream of bullets at my after image.

I stepped past them casually wiping the blood off my hand without even bothering to inspect their stats. If a person chose to rely on a weapon like that then they would probably be a threat to C-Class heroes at best which is like earth to my heaven at this point in time. They probably were not even able to perceive the moment my hand divorced chest from head and I increased my walking pace as I heard two thumps behind me.

The act of murder is meant be a hard thing at first as humans have both natural and culture inhibitions towards taking life but it also supposedly gets vastly easier over time as humans do what they do best and adapt to the shock. None of this applied to me as Gamers mind tended to kick in at times of emotional stress. I can barely remember my first kill, some murderer in a snowy street, and I tended to follow simple utilitarianism principles when I took a life. If my actions would lead to a net positive in the world then I would strike them down without guilt.

More sounds of footsteps came running through down the hallway and I turned the corner to look at what resembled some form of bad guy SWAT team and I ducked back as a hail of bullets came through before I leapt to the opposing wall bouncing off the upper portions of the hallway and landing in the middle of the group and finishing it in an instant. I briefly glimpsed over at that point and was disappointed to realise that the guy I scanned had stats that barely topped a hundred and it would take a literal army of them for me to even break a sweat.

This fight was probably representative of what would happen if an ordinary person in this world went up against any of the S-Class heroes let alone somebody like Tatsumaki or Saitama. Thankfully I still had my dungeons and the possibility of a fight with Saitama to look forward to or I would probably give up on fighting at this point. I continued onwards looking for the stairs to the top office where I wagered the CEO would most likely be and I was able to walk in silence for another fourteen seconds before I found it.

I walked slowly up the stairs keeping an eye out on the floor besides me as I did and I was rewarded by a glint that caused me to leap from the side an instant before the wall behind me exploded in a wave of heat and light. Standing on the floor above me were two clunky attempts at a robot looking hunched over like a mix between a pangolin and a scorpion except nearly two metres tall with a solitary eye glowing a bright vermillion that matched the wavelength erupting from their tails.

"Huh, I didn't think I'd see that soon," I mused to myself. "You never really expect the Mafia to own actual robots. I think I've walked into the wrong genre all of a sudden."

"I have been assigned to defend the head of the Genovese family," the two robots spoke in unison in a creepy manner, their eye brightening as they focused on me. "It does not matter for what reason you came here today as I C3, the strongest robot of The Organisation will eliminate you here."

"Then bring it on," I said scanning the two robots.

**C3 - 005**

**Robot of The Organisation**

**Species – Mechanical Life Form**

**Health- 603 052/603 052**

**Mana – 0/0 **

**STR – 34 312**

**VIT – 46 015**

**DEX – 26 321**

**INT – 89 452**

**WIS – 57 631**

**LUK – 4 698**

**Martial Arts Style: N/A**

That was quite some health but the rest of their actual stats probably sat in the middle lower portion of S-Class as wide as that particular classification was. In other words they would probably trash an early series Genos, just like everything else, but would be smashed without recourse in turn by Flash, Bang, Atomic Samurai, Darkshine and Tatsumaki.

The scales of the scorpions flashed at the same time as I scanned and the distraction was enough for the lasers to catch me on my chest and throw me right through the wall behind me and into a room that looked somewhat like a kitchen. They even had a cappuccino machine and it far nicer than any in every place I've worked at before so in a fit of spite I chucked it at the robot. Unfortunately it didn't get that far as a pair of lasers blasted it apart turning it into chunks of molten metal that served as a good distraction that I used to get close and punch one of the robots in the face.

I didn't use **Spin** or **Shun Shun Rika** but even still I was surprised that my fist left a dent in the robot instead of obliterating it outright and that moment of pause was almost enough for me to get hit by a laser from the robot that wasn't currently flying backwards. Instead I touched foot against a piece of shrapnel and used it as a foothold to pivot my body upwards and launch myself over the laser and towards the other one. This one was well aware of my approach and it turned its body pointing its dome shaped back against me.

This time I was surprised as my hand barely left an indentation on the hard robotic endoskeleton and I grinned almost unconsciously. These robots were almost ridiculously tough considering even most Demon-level monsters couldn't withstand my blows and they had good judgement and some half-decent firepower. The only real downside was they were a little slow.

Knowing this I grabbed the back vaulting over the tail that tried to decapitate me and landed in front of the robot before launching a trio of blows at its optical area. The first punch cracked the glass, the second broke it and with the third I inserted my hand into its cranium and pulled out its innards. That seemed to shut it up and I scanned it over to see its prodigious health be reduced to zero.

Only three seconds had passed by this point and the original robot had finished struggling to its feet, but I didn't bother making the first move at this point. Instead I watched as the creature looked at me, sized me up, saw how outmatched it was before it started to speak again.

"Scanning database of subjects," the robot said. "Target identified as King, the owner of the restaurant CooKing Grates. Why would a small time city chef decide to attack the Genovese family? Is this only related to the collection of money? Who is backing you? How did you get such strength? The robot's voice rose and rose until it was sounding hysterical until it stopped to be replaced by the sound of whirring. "Target has been identified. Backup has been requested. No restrictions on the usage of force."

'So they knew who I was,' I thought nervously. It was bound to happen sometime. There are cameras everywhere these days and despite my lack of standing out I knew that I would become famous at some point just like the original King. I had planned for this day and obtained enough protection that my family would be safe from any future enemies and so I gathered my resolve before I reached up to my mask and tore it off.

I took a step forward to reduce this robot to scrap when my **Supreme Awareness over the Natural World** warned me of an imminent collision and I took a step back as the floor beneath me exploded showering me with concrete. I blinked as some of the dust entered my vision and I was blinded for a brief instant, opening my eyes to see a whirling ball of metal flying towards me at speeds that belied its great size. Still I had enough time to move and I did so, avoiding the barrelling robot I leapt upwards towards the ceiling; which promptly collapsed as another one of those metal balls rolled downwards toward me at the speed of a bullet.

I turned my body lashing out with a kick with the intention to change my momentum; only to find it didn't go as planned as a tremendous force impacted with my foot and sent me flying through another one of the walls of the building. I hopped to my feet just in time to see another one of those giant balls of metal come rushing at my face and I immediately retaliated by throwing a punch at the centre mass of the spinning robot only to find my fist skirting off the shell of the creature doing minimal damage and the resulting momentum of the punch instead blowing a hole through several walls and right out of the building. The deflected force barely knocked it off course and it smacked into my face as I overextended causing no small amount of embarrassment.

Still I was tough enough at this point that it didn't do any actual harm and I easily straightened up adopting a steady pose once again. However no more attacks happened at this point and instead I found myself circled by five of the pangolin scorpion things that obviously formed the metallic spheres that crashed about a few seconds ago.

"You may be able to resist my blows," the lead pangolin said fixing me with a red glare. "But I can do the same to you. My bodies have the ability to rotate at over 120 000RPM and can easily deflect all attacks aimed at it. You stand no chance facing against the power of The Organisation."

"You guys have the worst luck," I said chuckling slightly as I cricked some of the muscles in my arm where I hadn't warmed up properly. "And the biggest issue isn't with the speed but the quality of the rotations. Let me educate you briefly." These words were accompanied by action as I slowly yet precisely started to spin the life force in my body achieving infinitely close to an incredibly deadly ratio of spin and then I discarded that rate of spin choosing to stoop to my opponent's level and match their motions.

"We'll capture him alive," one of the robots said as it came barrelling towards me in a fast but predictable manner and I stepped forward cocking my right fist before throwing a punch at centre mass with a precisely calculate opposite spin. My fist briefly met the hard metallic shell containing armour surpassing a tank before it broke through the guard of my opponent with double the force of normal. I tore out the power source from the robot idly contemplating it as I stepped forward towards the other four robots.

"What," the furthest pangolin said but I barely paused as I increased my speed and thrust out with my left arm at the next closest pangolin. I caught him at once negating his rotation before sinking my hands into the joint and smashing him into the robot behind him causing both of them to almost disintegrate. They were still alive despite their sorry state and so I took the time to stamp down harshly on them crushing their power core and central processor. Health had always been a weird stat and didn't seem to work properly for anybody but me as most humans and monsters died when their brain was destroyed regardless of health as they lacked Gamer's Body. I did notice that monsters seemed to have more health than humans on average, even with similar stats. It was something I considered but didn't really have an answer for.

"Human how dare…" one of the robots pangolins said but I didn't pause my movement at all. "Wait don't come closer. If you come closer I will…" That was about as far as he got as I formed **Shun Shun Rika** into a sword and sliced him in half before I approached the last one.

"Wait how did you do that?" the last one asked. "Wait, don't move forward. If you do everybody in this city will die." That got me to pause as I examined the robot that unfortunately had no tells. "Yes I will forgive you if you come with me. If you don't I will unleash a terrible monster upon this city. Recently an expedition from The Organisation came back from the Archipelago carrying a large egg with terrifying power contained inside. Apparently the mother easily killed the entire robot team considering of robots just like me. This being is kept underneath the basement of the building and it only requires a brief command in order to release it, if you don't…"

I released my psychic powers and crushed it into a block of steel mere centimetres across but I didn't feel assured at all. I would not give myself up to this organisation obviously and I would eliminate that potential city killer today which was not a condition they would ever accept. I turned away almost reluctantly from my goal knowing that while the boss was probably on the last floor he was far less important than the possible beast slumbering below. I would have to retrieve my cash later. Those were all the thoughts that ran through my head before I froze as my sense went haywire and I immediately broke my **Power Sealing**.

There was a brief instant as my body felt freer than ever and I felt my full psychic power return to me before the world went white and full of heat. I leapt off the burning air flinging myself upwards as a volcano formed beneath me throwing rocks and stones everywhere and I reached out with my psychokinesis to grab every flying rock and aim it directly at the smoky crater where the building used to be.

I hit the wall of a building opposite the road and instead crashed through the windows landing in an office of screaming people. Oh yeah I forgot my control over my muscles went to shit whenever I deactivated **Power Sealing**. I stood up brushing the glass off of my clothes and strode forward towards the crushed window looking down onto the street where car alarms were going off and traffic had stopped dead. I noticed that I had apparently in a law firm and debated the pros and cons before my conscience won out.

"You should probably run," I said in an elevated voice giving the office one last look before I crouched down and launched towards the crater with the force of a meteorite. The smoke cleared and my eyes widened before I saw myself staring at an eerily familiar face. Six scarlet eyes affixed me with a glare from their position in a massive pitch black head and the maw of the world's scariest dog opened up and spewed forth balls of blazing energy.

Spin was a tool of precision and therefore currently unusable and therefore I summoned **Shun Shun Rika** and infused it with my desire not to be splattered all over the road. My cuff links formed an orange shield and I watched as cracks started to appear immediately as I descended towards the oversized hound. One energy ball hit, then two, then three, then five, then eight all in less time than it took me to descend those few stories and it cracked a mere ten metres from the mysterious being. A massive paw swiped at me at that I couldn't avoid and so I met it head on using the lull in energy blasts to aim my full strength towards the appendage.

Fist met foot and every pane of glass within miles shattered from the shockwave. An unearthly boom was heard as I went flying uncontrolled into the road below. My muscles contracted at just the wrong moment and a vast amount of my strength was wasted before the impact. I hit the ground and the ground shattered throwing me down through the streets and into the sewers below for a brief moment before I plummeted straight through the sewers and even deeper into the ground. When I finally managed to stop myself a few seconds later I was hundreds of metres underground and had finally come to a stop in the middle of some seriously tough bedrock.

I had actually never been hit this hard and it took a while for me to regain my mind-set as I immediately checked my stats.

**King **

**The Gamer**

**Title - None**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 8 954 012/9 544 830 (HP Regen: 190 897 per minute)**

**Mana – 4 229 280/4 232 380 (MP Regen: 84 647 per minute)**

**Level – 1 869 EXP 12 050 369/120 762 401**

**STR – 743 291**

**VIT – 945 123**

**DEX – 721 348**

**INT – 413 878**

**WIS – 399 447**

**LUK – 525 777**

**Points - 0**

**Money 7 777 777 777¥**

With a single swipe of his paws I had lost over five percent of his health after taking into account my physical resistance and how much of the momentum I offset with my own punch. In a way I was quite lucky that the momentum got flung away and I didn't end up between his jaws otherwise I would have been a dog's breakfast right now. Unfortunately my stats were still very much out of control forcing me to abandon any notion of pinpoint precision in my attacks or just martial arts in general. For the moment I was going to have to rely on sheer brute strength in the manner of Super Alloy Darkshine rather than my precise skills such as Bang.

I sighed for a moment in defeat but inwardly I felt a surge of anticipation as I activated the Life Fibres concealed inside my body. I would never wear the horrendous outfit that they originally took the form but after hours of showing disdain towards the alien parasite I figured out how to use it. The one thing I had forgotten in the long time it had taken since watching the show was that the most effective way to use Life Fibres was not by wearing them. Countless microorganisms tore into the substrate of my flesh and burrowed into nerves and muscles sapping away at my life and devouring my bioelectricity and I started to cough blood at seeing my HP begin to drop even as my Stats rose. Physical resistance did nothing to impede the invasion of countless strands of pure energy and I felt my extremities start to cool down as my life force was gluttonously absorbed leaving me withered despite my Gamers Body.

'Lubdublubdublubdublubdublubdub,' as the vitality in my body withered the cells in my heart went insane exploding into motion. The valves of my heart burst open and waves of pure life force fulminated throughout my body restoring my withered state. I stretched my body hearing satisfying crackling noises as bones and muscles protested their eagerness to burn off excessive energy. I examined my arm noting that it, along with my whole body, was covered in blonde hair.

"**Wolf King Mode**," I said to myself despite the fact that nobody could hear me down here. I angled my foot towards the ground before I gently pushed up just as the first few drops of sewer water hit the ground. The whole earth shook and the sound barrier break as a momentary lapse in muscle control followed by a large burst in strength caused me to overshoot my target as I rocketed out of the hole and ended up a mile in the air.

There was a brief moment of peace as I floated in the air for a brief moment before my instincts (**Supreme Awareness over the Natural World**) kicked in and I moved to the right a microsecond before a ball of heat and light flew past my shoulder continuing on for several hundred metres before it exploded in a flash of light that overtook the sun.

"How in the everloving nine hells did that bunch of mechanical mooks ever manage to get an egg away from that thing's mother," I spoke to myself as I kicked a psychic barrier, shattering the construct as I did so, descending to the earth like an eagle aiming for the world's largest rabbit.

Beams after beam flew upwards towards me but I created platforms of psychic energy and bounced from platform to platform descending erratically through bursts of fiery flak until I landed about a hundred metres away from my opponent causing the road to crack, melt and deform under the pressure of my landing. Crowds of people had run by now but casualties seemed to be very low as most of the pressure was placed firmly on yours truly. I casually reached out with a punch that vaporised a flying block of rubble that was going to crush some poor kid in a cheap mask.

Unfortunately the force of my punch didn't stop there and I was forced to redirect the momentum upwards and even then I still took the roof of a skyscraper clean off. I really hope that nobody was enjoying a romantic lunch on top of that building when my attack hit. Hopefully they would have scarpered by now like the rest of the city. Thankfully my momentary reaction didn't hinder me and it was only when I regained my focus on the beast that I saw it open its mouth up again and release a single white orb in my direction and I obliged it by cocking my hand back and throwing out a single punch.

Two waves of unstoppable force met in the middle and for a moment there was total silence before the sound of a thousand instances of thunder rocked the city as the energy of a bomb detonated between us engulfing the both of us in heat and light. I hastily summoned **Shun Shun Rika** behind me to negate the worst of the blast before I charged directly at the hound. In this form I felt as if I was a hammer and the entire city was glass; but the creature in front of me was an anvil.

I charged through a field of whiteness towards the creature aiming towards the massive beast with none of my usual finesse. I regained my sight just in time to crash into his chest with my shoulder physically lifting him off the ground and toppling him over. A paw lashed out in my direction and I retaliated with a punch that caused shockwaves to emnate from the point of collision that both of us endured to a greater or lesser extent. A gust of air drew my attention and I kicked back just a second to slow to avoid a pair of jaws snapping down on my arm. I retaliated with some impromptu dentistry and teeth cracked and the beast stumbled back still carrying scraps of my arm in its mouth.

I telekinetically grabbed most of the flying meat before shoving it towards my mangled limb and allowed my healing to fuse the detritus to my appendage as the boosted healing of my** Wolf King Mode** restored my arm to new in about two seconds flat. My feet finally hit the ground at this point and I launched myself towards the wolf again throwing clumsy punch after clumsy punch that were retaliated bit by bit by the dog until something changed and I smiled stepping slightly to the side before turning my lifeforce and in one swift move spun my life force and promptly broke every bone in the beast's paw.

"Finally done," I remarked to myself exiting **Wolf King Mode** and feeling my heart begin to slow down and the vitality begin to drain as my Stats decreased simultaneously. A wave of exhaustion hit me but I shrugged it off with the help of **Gamer's Mind** and I stretched feeling one hundred percent control of my Stats once more. "This feels so much better," I said to myself as I idly snapped my fingers causing all the loose hair on my body to fly off and into the giant dog's face.

It stumbled for a moment stuck in a state between enragement and bafflement as hair flew into its nose and eyes and I stepped forward throwing a punch infused with **Spin**. The collision this time was entirely to my favour and I crushed down on the canine knocking him backwards and adding one more bruise. The creature stumbled back before it opened its mouth generating another ball of light and I waited for the perfect moment to slam its mouth shut using psychokinesis causing one more explosion to rock the city originating from between its jaws.

"**The World Turns**," I said stepping towards my unsteady opponent starting the process that I used to **Spin** life force and psychic energy together. It had been a long fight at this point with multiple wounds between us despite the lack of a definitive killing blow. Not only that but I found myself getting pretty severely mentally fatigued at this point from all the fighting and so I decided to end it with one final move. For one brief moment I saw my foe wounded and in pain before my fist impacted and the world shattered in that instant causing a zone of death in that area that drowned my opponent tearing him to pieces.

I retracted my fist feeling before waving it around trying to dissipate some of the sheer heat that was coming off of it. That move was still imperfect but the backlash was nowhere near as horrendous as its original version. I was more or less satisfied that it qualifies as a successful super move. Straightening my back and scanning the clouds of the dust and smoke for any sign of movement. Suddenly an unfamiliar cacophony hit my ears and I instantly turned away from my probe into the smoke to make sense of this din.

People were cheering for me. They stood on the streets and peered out from buildings displaying their joy that I had defeated the monster that had threatened their lives. I was being held up as a hero already to a far greater extent that Saitama ever was and it felt… quite disconcerting actually. As an introvert I already did not enjoy being the focus of large crowds like this and it wasn't helped by the fact that I was tired to the bone. So under the gaze of at least one hundred people I gave a thumb up and then headed towards my home.

xxx

**1 Month Later**

"This is actually quite an unusual experience for me," I said as I say as I sat at the edge of a pier. "I usually make a habit of avoiding any situation that has the potential to end up like this."

It had been a stressful month. I had returned back to the restaurant the following day, without my mafia-stolen money, to be confronted by an army of reporters who had somehow tracked me down. Even as I performed my usual services I was constantly annoyed by eager members of the press who hungered after a quote. 'At least they left positive reviews for my restaurant,' I thought, only to correct myself after a moment. 'Former restaurant.'

I had sold CooKing Grates the previous week after enduring the hassles from all sides. Even my family had turned out to be a massive problem with my parents scolding me for recklessness and yet simultaneously being proud of me in that awkward manner that I found hard to deal with.

"I hope you weren't under the impression that I'm the sort of man to easily forgive my enemies," I said to my companion. "In fact I really dislike people that throw forgiveness around so easily. I mean really… Isn't forgiveness supposed to be the province of the divine? Humans shouldn't invade the domain of gods so easily. Forgiving people willy-nilly can really hurt a guy in the long run."

I stored my shoes in my inventory before dipping my feet in the water and finding it a pleasant temperature. I gazed into the horizon but even my eyes couldn't even see a speck of land. Long ago humans lived on many islands and smaller continents that surrounded the supercontinent. Due to wars and certain other events these other landmasses were rendered uninhabitable. Some were the victim of severe weather fluctuations; others had fallen into the sea and some of them were overrun by Mysterious Beings. Apparently the Mysterious Being that I had fought came from one of the landmasses known as the Archipelago. I wanted more than anything to see it.

"I think the reason why I haven't killed you in the end is that I actually really like dogs," I said looking at the shin high black hound that was furiously wagging his tail at me. I had honestly not held back in that last punch and the fact that he survived it spoke more of his luck than my strength. Two weeks later I had ran into him again and immediately restrained him, placing me in the position of unwilling to let a dangerous beast run off unsupervised and just as unwilling to kill man's best friend. "But make no mistake. You slip off once and I will be having Chinese," I said as I glared at him

He made no response to my provocations and so I directed my eyes to the ocean once more. I rifled through my inventory one last time checking that all the essentials were packed, before I placed the unresisting pooch on my shoulder. I took one last look at the supercontinent where I had lived for twenty years before I leapt down into the ocean and hurtled over the waves and towards the old lands of past humanity.

**I really have a terrible work ethic when it comes to writing stories. I just cannot seem to stick to one. Anyway this was probably the highest number of favs I have ever got off a first chapter so it seems people like this****. Thanks for reading. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A Smattering Of Years Later**

'You know, when I think about it my Outsider abilities have given me just as much misery as triumph.' That was the stray thought that went through my head as a three toed metallic foot broke straight through my **Shun Shun Rika** immediately latching onto my face and tossing me through a nearby tree that felt like it was made out of iron for the brief moment before I went straight through it with all the momentum of a bullet train.

Still the more that I revisit that stray thought the more I am certain that my initial assumption was not wrong. The aforementioned **Shun Shun Rika** has the tendency to let me down and I was almost certain at this point it was due to Gamer's screwing up my emotions. I'm actually quite lucky that my first Outsider ability wasn't something like **Spiral Power** because that probably wouldn't have worked at all with that emotion dampening. Although I'm afraid without the calming influence of Gamer's Mind I might end up closer to Shinji than Simon.

I scrabbled for purchase on a nearby trunk, digging the tips of my fingers into the bark and yanked myself off course a moment before a giant metallic wing cut through the steel trees, tearing through the eight metre thick trunk as if it was paper. I caught one of the rigid branches on the tree and launched myself at the birdlike Mech that had started dominating my inner monologue throwing forward a **Spin** infused fist as I did so. A metallic wing was blocked my path and I watched as hundreds of iron feather vibrated at subtly different frequencies sending out thousands of longitudinal waves that met my fist head on creating an explosion that sent both of us flying backwards.

While **Spin** had fantastic power it had taken me years of training to use it effectively and it still required a great portion of my concentration to use. The lack of a horse or a stand to use it with had really hampered me but it was still my least screwy over of my powers. I landed on the side of the tree before pulling out two golf balls from my pocket and **Spinning** them towards the robotic suit. It tried to fly out of the way using the jets in the feet but it was a few seconds too slow to react and it was forced to redirect his wings from mobility to defence clanging the appendages together releasing a wave of sonic force that met the nigh-infinite energy of **Spin** for about two seconds before the melting husks of the golf balls pierced through the chest of the robot.

I didn't have any time to initiate the coup de grâce as a seconds prescience allowed me to avoid the next blow, well almost. A thin beam of pure white light impacted my forearm causing a chunk to be blown out of it and I watched dispassionately as a cluster of red threads darted out of the wound grabbing the pieces of skin and muscle and dragging it back into the wound allowing it to recombine with my arm. Those laser beams were severely hard to deal with and one of the weapons in my enemy's arsenal that could still harm me quite a bit. Well strictly speaking they were not laser beams but superheated carbon that had then been accelerated to the speed of light.

The **Kamui** had proved the second most troublesome of all my powers as the clothes made out of the corpse of an alien had first proven themselves unusable due to the sheer embarrassment they posed and then later when I allowed them to rest beneath my skin tried to nearly kill my nervous system and drain me of all life energy. Still after a lot of time and a greater than moderate amount of pain we had come to a mutual understanding. The thread life form was at least semi-sentient but extremely anti-social and had a weird form of honour about it drinking my blood as payment and then lending strength whenever I asked for it in return. While the creature was normally silent it could become incredibly active in battle and I got the feeling that it saw any breathing enemy as an affront to its contract.

I stretched out my arm aiming at the closest bird robot and two dozen red threads shot tore out from my fingertips latching onto the mechanical supplement and dragging it in front of me in time to block a few more of those lasers.

Screams resounded from the cockpit and I could smell the blood as one of my opponents was ruthlessly destroyed by the others' laser beams. I sneered in irritation and with my psychic powers I ripped the rest of his broken mech apart before hurling it's components at other other birds, allowing the Mysterious Being inside to plummet unceremoniously to the ground. They were a weird birdlike race called Stymphalians that were apparently descended from dinosaurs and the supposed true inheritors of the earth. Even a new-born Stymphalian was about as strong as an adult man and when fully grown you wouldn't find one that couldn't be called a demon in strength. Worse than that was that their civilisation was comparatively highly advanced and they employed powerful mechanical exosuits that could increase their strength further allowing them to spread throughout their entire continent.

Their xenophobia made them a pain to deal with at the best of times but unfortunately in this situation I had no choice, or to be more specific they allowed me no choice. I was at the fringes of their territory facing down a Mysterious Being that I had been interested in for a long time, called the Black-Mouthed Godsnake. This supposedly legendary creature had terrorised Dragons throughout the area for as long as they remembered and so I had expended a lot of effort in tracking it down, setting up an ambush, getting supplies and lying in wait. It had taken two weeks of camping outside the hole of its burrows but I was finally rewarded when it slithered out and into my trap and then those feathery bastards attacked just as soon as I had lured him away from the cave.

An omnipresent hissed pealed throughout the surroundings penetrating into through the ears and into the folds of my brain, the sound was backed by a massive amount of psychic power that directly attacked the grey matter freezing all life in its tracks as the mind would refuse to command the body. From about a mile off a massive grey pillar arose high above the skyline blocking out the sun as it surveyed all of the lowly creatures that dared to disturb it from its rest. It opened its mouth wide and for a moment I saw a blackness that rivalled the abyss before the sound barrier shattered as dozens of jets of liquid emerged from a pair of luminescent fangs targeting all with impunity.

I wasn't an exception and I leapt to the side avoiding a jet of liquid, my own precognitive abilities allowing me to see the trajectory even when the Stymphalians supercomputers proved unable to. That perfect dodge however was not enough and I watched as my skin started to bubble and blacken. Venom normally required direct injection into the skin and even the spitting abilities of certain snakes would only affect the target if it landed in their eyes or they had certain allergies but venom from the Black-Mouthed Godsnake had extremely corrosive properties that ate into flesh and steel.

I watched idly as my arm started to heal and black flesh flaked off and was replaced with pink while dozens of robotic suits crashed to the ground, corroding even as their wielders choked to death. Out of all the troublesome Outsider abilities that I had my fourth one took every single cake. Worse than the inconsistency of **Shun Shun Rika**, the insane precision required of **Spin** and the humiliating nature of **Kamui**, my fourth Outsider power had actually broken my Gamer's Body.

The skill was greyed out, unusable and ruined, never to be used again but it actually taken me far too long to figure it out. I had assumed that the wounds I had previously taken were due to the creatures from the Abandoned World simply being a few notches higher than those on the Supercontinent but eventually I had noticed it when I looked at a part of my Stats that I hadn't examined in a while with the guilty party sitting a few dozen lines below looking innocent.

**Gourmet Cells (LV 216) – Active  
Strange cells that are the embodiment of life energy, savouriness and desire for sustenance that are injected into the body. Increases host regeneration and strength of body but there is chance for mutation or death if cells are unable to adapt. These Gourmet Cells were generated by a special ingredient. **

As I was reflecting on my failures, one of the missiles from those mechs was sent flying towards me and I reflexively tapped it transporting it into my inventory. A couple of those missiles could flatten a small city and I would rather not be hit by one if I could help it. It would mess up my shirt and I couldn't afford to go on losing new shirts in this accursed land. That was my primary reason for returning in my past few trips apart from generally catching up on the news. I opened up my inventory and returned the missile to my opponent Gate of Babylon style, watching the detonation that tore his machine to shreds and dumped him unceremoniously onto the deadly forest floor.

While the Stymphalians were superior to humans in almost every way there was one indisputable advantage that they lacked and that was location. Despite their strength the ground was littered with dozens of the xenophobic bastards as the Black-Mouthed Godsnake made corpses of them with the efficiency of a natural disaster. I had travelled to each of the major continents outside the Supercontinent and found very few places that would be safe for humans to live. Dragons were not that rare out here; demons roamed everywhere eating the weaker and fleeing from those stronger; tigers were at the bottom of the food chain and as for wolves, they were grass to be grazed upon at the leisure of all others.

An unarmoured Stymphalian stealthily approached my blind side and I plucked a knife from my inventory before I turned and filleted him, carving flesh from bones, feather from skin and guts from frame before decapitating him in less time than it took him to notice causing the bird to die in confusion and pieces. Despite my preparing skills I wouldn't eat him; I wasn't Pig God and the thought of eating thinking beings made me feel the blankness that indicates Gamers Mind was still working. As he dropped to the floor I hopped onto one of the tallest trees that were made small by the presence of the Godsnake staring at him as an ant would examine an elephant.

Still size mattered not in this situation as rivers of blood flowed down from a canyon that was carved into its side from round one of our fight before the whole thing was interrupted. Now the interrupters all lay dead or dying on the ground and only the two strongest remained; a perfect summation of the Abandoned World right there. The seconds dragged on as I stood facing against the massive reptile and its gaze put a heavy psychic pressure on me; the creature stood as an exception to the rule that only intelligent beings could possess psychic powers, but the Abandoned World was full of exceptions. Still remembering the past was a distraction and I couldn't handle distractions at this moment. The Godsnake strike was unbelievably, incredibly fast and a slight lapse in concentration and those pillars disguised as teeth would sink into me. Seconds stretched by and I watched in anticipation for the instantaneous strike, my neurons firing to their full extent and anticipation burning within my soul as the creature reared back and…

The snake convulsed in pain flattening miles and miles of trees as it writhed around its body torn into two halves for twice the damage. I frowned in slight annoyance as I saw the reason and jumped off my tree a second before it was obliterated along with all the other arboreal inhabitants within the vicinity. If that was the extent of its injuries than the creature would likely recover with some time but that would never happen and I idly watched as a familiar figure quickly destroyed the head of the beast and I swiftly moved towards that location.

"Hey Blast," I said as I spoke to the familiar looking man, clad in his hero suit and flicking the blood off the gloves. "I haven't seen you around for a long time. How's the family?"

"They are doing very well," Blast said calmly. "My son is appearing to be more of a chip off the old block each day. I came here because I wanted to speak to you." The man was never particularly verbose unless the topic was important to him and he would often impart a few words at most. "I recently fought a large insectile Mysterious Being and while I managed to kill it, the fight upset my wife badly and she gave me an ultimatum. I will be retiring from hero work unless absolutely necessary."

"Large insectile creature," I muttered. Could that be Elder Centipede. The timeline would be one or two years early and Blast didn't kill it. "You aren't the sort of person who would make the effort of travelling all the way here to meet me just to tell me that." Blast shrugged at that and gave a longing look at the Black-Mouthed Godsnake and I suddenly understood. The reason for coming here was not only to announce his retirement but as one last hurrah. He was probably having fun fighting in the Abandoned World for the last time.

"Did you go see the Tornado?" I asked and Blast snorted.

"I figured you would find out about that," he said. "I just saved the girl a few years ago and gave her a few pointers. I haven't seen her since that day and I would feel awkward meeting up with her now." His words were uncaring but there was a faint note of pride in his voice that the person who he rescued was doing so well for themselves. "Where is your dog by the way," he said changing the subject suddenly. "I meant to ask you last time but it slipped my mind."

"He's with the rest of his pack," I said with a smile thinking back to those absolute monstrous hounds that I had met. They were uncharacteristically friendly when they saw the pup with me and after a brief farewell they adopted my former foe/pet. This had happened over four months ago and since then I had been wandering the Abandoned World alone. Maybe it was time to finally go back to the Supercontinent. It had been a long time since I saw other humans.

"As long as he doesn't travel to the Supercontinent chasing after you that's fine," Blast said indifferently. "Just one of these creatures could cause a lot of problem outside of their environment."

That was a sentiment I agreed with. Even the majority of the S-Class would be unable to survive out here for a length of time. Tornado would definitely and Silver Fang stood a good chance but I wouldn't even trust in Flashy Flash, Darkshine or Atomic Samurai let alone Metal Knight. The monsters were one thing but the world also had Grand Line level weather and superbugs that could cause me even to feel ill. Those were the simplest threats and the full list included psychic rocks, self-replicating robotic bees, sentient emotions that possessed dead bodies and even what appeared to be a race of humanoid magic-wielding goats. One skill that you couldn't lack when exploring the Abandoned World was adaptability. If you were unable to judge the situation and adapt to it than you would likely end up like those unfortunate Stymphalians.

"Would you like to have a fight," I said suddenly as I turned towards the soon-to-be-retiree. We had fought before but while I was able to inflict wounds I had yet to win even a single time.

**Blast**

**Near Future Number One Hero**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 46 419 145/46 419 145 **

**Mana – 0/0 **

**STR – 18 091 562**

**VIT – 19 452 777**

**DEX – 16 917 564**

**INT – 305 651**

**WIS – 502 122**

**LUK – 78 451**

**Martial Arts Style: Humans Explosive Potential**

After years and years of training his stats were still higher than mine and even that brief breakdown from **Observe** did no justice to how truly immensely skilled the man was. The man moved like lightning and like me he had even stronger forms as well. But I had grown much stronger while exploring the wonders of the Abandoned World and this was an obstacle that I would have to undertake if I was to ever be the strongest man in the world.

"So you can lose again," Blast said indifferently but I saw the faint signs of interest in his eyes. The man did really enjoy a challenge and while I had yet to defeat him I had provided enough of a challenge. I could practically read his thoughts even without telepathy. 'My wife would really dislike it if I was to fight, but she did give permission for me to be here so she must know that I would engage in some fights. Still this is an avoidable battle so it would be taking advantage of her allowance, but still this is going to be my last outing for a long time so she wouldn't be upset with me getting into a relatively safe fight with an old acquaintance. Still maybe he needed one last push.

"**Tiger King Mode**," I said and immediately felt my hearts explode as thousands of scarlet microscopic fibers invaded the cells and forcibly stimulated the mitochondria causing my blood to mitochondria causing my blood to erupt throughout my veins and even soak through the pores in my skin giving me a bloody look before it evaporated under the sheer heat my body was giving off. This mode was easily a dozen times harder to maintain than my **Wolf King Mode** but Blast deserved nothing less. Every cell in my body was stimulated past its natural limit and I could feel thousands of calories burn away that in the furnace that was my cells.

I stepped forward looking at the sheer surprise on Blast's face that swiftly morphed to a look of exasperation that barely hid his massive anticipation. Cries of birds sounded as the treetops were evacuated and every land creature in a hundred miles turned and ran in a futile attempt to escape the imminent collision. I watched out of the corner of my eye as minor fires started on the trees around me and I could hear the bubbling of the sap as the exceedingly high temperatures caused it to expand rapidly and a tacit agreement was set up between Blast and I. Thirty seconds later with an astonishing amount of coordination all the trees around us exploded. I stepped forward. Our fight began.

xxx

**A Couple Of Weeks After A Seriously Good Fight**

"Would you pass the potatoes Dear," my mother said to me and I acquiesced immediately picking up the bowl and sliding it over only to get a disapproving look from my mother because I couldn't be bothered to carry it. We were having a family gathering for literally no reason. 'Shit', unless of course it was somebody's birthday and I've just forgotten it. I glanced at the extended family looking for any signs of merriment that might indicate that my relation had evaded the reaper for another year, but nobody came forward instead meeting my gaze and a dawning feeling came across me.

'Could it be my birthday," I thought. 'No, no that's wrong,' I reconsidered. 'My birthday is in June. Wait what date is it,' I thought trying to recalculate from the last time I bothered to look at a calendar. 'It was still May last time I looked,' I thought with a bit of relief. 'Wait that was eighteen days ago. Fuck its June now.'

My face grew tighter as I saw my younger sister approach the table holding a two storey cake and I knew what was going to happen at this point. 'For god's sake, I can see the future. How in the hell can I not see this coming.' In front of me the cake was placed and 26 candles were lit up.

"Happy Birthday to you," the chorus started and I put on that awkward expression that everybody who had been the subject of a birthday party would experience. I was 26 and yet my family still insisted on doing this every year. Not to mention there was at least somebody else's birthday every month and I was 'encouraged' to attend them all, not that I did. I nodded along to the off-tune singing and blew out the candles nodding along at the repeated request to make a wish. I partook in the final ritual of the birthday and cut the cake before taking a slice and hereby allowing my other relatives the opportunity to tuck in.

The cake was… average at best and I contemplated whether my special diet had perhaps ruined normal food for me. Still birthday cake as a whole never really tasted amazing. Cake was generally served at kid's birthdays and anybody who has ever spent considerable time around the creatures will inform you that children have no taste.

Then the congratulations came, thick and fast and not for the last time I lamented the fact that my family in this life was just so big. My inner introvert just wanted to crawl into a hole and turn off the lights and I felt myself more mentally drained in half an hour of small talk then several battles with my life on the line. Tired I eventually managed to sneak out and collapsed on the couch next to my Uncle Duke who was just quietly watching the news. He looked up as I sat down and gave me a quick nod of acknowledgement which I returned. We sat in silence for a few minutes in front of the television although I wasn't really watching it; until my uncle interrupted my thoughts.

"Hey, that monster on the TV," he said. "Are you going to get it?"

"Contrary to what people think," I said opening my eyes from the doze I had slid into. "I don't hunt down every monster that appears. Only if the…" I started only to blink. The monster that was on the screen was one I had seen before. A grin overtook my face as I saw an overgrown humanoid crab monster in white briefs with drawn on nipples rampage around the streets crashing through cars and causing crowds to flee from him.

"I'm heading out," I said as I stood up from the couch. "Save a piece of cake for me," I said knowing that it was a futile effort. I walked towards the front door of my parent's apartment, whispering hurried excuses to those who wanted to speak to me as anticipation drums of anticipation beat within my hearts. Gently, I rebuffed attempts to draw me into a conversation and I swiftly extricated myself from the pit that was any and every family reunion that I've been to.

Not even a second after closing the door I had leapt off the ledge, getting some distance before I kicked off the air and sidled through the sound barrier without even a hint of a sonic boom. Once I had crossed that obstacle I accelerated towards Z-city surpassing hypersonic speeds as I blurred towards the location that the creature was last spotted. In less than ten minutes I had arrived at the city and I blurred to a stop in the middle of the sky summoning **Life Fibers** to hold together my scorched and torn clothes that were unable to inadequately withstand the friction leaving my clothes with a distinctly more reddish hue.

'Office block, park, restaurants, shelter,' I inwardly muttered as I looked down over the city trying to triangulate the block where the crab monster was last. 'Wait,' I thought as my eyes caught on one specific building. It was Bang's dojo. I hadn't met the old man since the time when he kicked my butt almost twenty years ago. I guess I never did really learn professional martial arts outside of my **Spin** style; I should probably go down and check it out once I'm done. Maybe I could learn something from watching how a real martial arts master did things.

Even while I was contemplating this I didn't stop searching and I quickly saw an area of some disturbance. A few overturned cars, _a couple of bodies, _crushed concrete and glass and devoid of people. I landed gently on the ground and then swiftly jogged through the slightly damaged yet incredibly quiet streets noticing a few heads poking out of shop windows as I moved. A few people beckoned me inside and I think one of the younger adults recognized me and cheered at me as I jogged past.

Less than a few second later I gawked at the sight that was before me. The aforementioned crab monster was standing there in front of me; or at least the bottom half of him was. The top half was splattered everywhere leaving the whole thing looking like a crab buffet designed by a blind man. I didn't need a degree in ballistics to know what had happened and I felt my lips curl up as I revelled in the implications. The Mysterious Being had been destroyed, his entire upper half vaporised in an instant by one cataclysmic blow. The realisation that I had absolutely fucked up the timeline by this point dawned on me as slowly and inevitably as the dawning sun and I was left standing in front of the decaying corpse of a monster revelling in the implications.

"It's King," suddenly a lone voice cried out and I heard the patter of feet and the sound of doors slamming open as people rushed up to me, thankfully keeping a respectful distance and started cheering. A few people started asking for my autograph and there were more than a few flashes of the camera.

"Oh shit, did I steal the credit," I mumbled to myself. I thought briefly about pointing out the real victor but it was such a pathetic hazard in the first place and I… honestly I just really hate talking to crowds. It always becomes more a contest to speak and people are awful at listening. So after a few attempts at clarifying the situation, in which nobody fucking listened I gave up and walked away. I didn't see the brat with a soccer ball but then again I don't think this was the place the crab was killed last time and I wondered nervously if I had accidentally erased the formation of the Hero Association.

Shaking off my pursuers I quickly stepped into a side street and changed my face, slipping out in the form of a new man who was considerably shorter and more unobtrusive. With black hair and brown eyes and a skinny hunched over posture it was unlikely that anybody would associate him with the man named King. I moved into the nearest clothing shop, a small unbranded family-run business, before changing swiftly and leaving the money on the counter and exiting a new man entirely.

So, judging from that scene earlier it was likely then that Saitama had started training to be a hero before today and acquired at least some of his titular strength. I briefly wondered if this whole thing was my fault or if I was in an alternate universe to start off with. The easiest way was to go and see how things stood with a canon character and the closest side character to this location was Bang. In fact I could I see his dojo from my current location, or at least the mountain on which his dojo was parked upon as well as the hundreds of stairs that led up to it.

I bought two meat skewers from one of the shops on the side and ate them as I took a leisurely stroll. I was in no particular hurry to quicken my pace and get back to the family gathering and so I slowly digested my food as I walked up the dojo steps the mundane way. Step by step I walked up the hundreds of stairs, finishing the roadside skewers and then pulling out some snake fillet from my inventory. The rich and crispy meat from the defeated Mysterious Being was far more savoury then anything I've eaten since I returned to the Supercontinent. I was still in the process of transforming one of my Instant Dungeons into a Gourmet World; I had already trapped many of the creatures from the Abandoned World and infused some of them with my own Gourmet Cells and I hoped that they would soon multiply and become the dominant yet tasty force in that particular Instant Dungeon.

At a brisk walk it took over five minutes to reach the top, and I had plenty of thoughts on how to approach this as I walked past struggling people who had apparently forgot to get their daily exercise. While the dojo was a serious enterprise it did attract a lot of tourism and occasionally people would attempt the long trek up to experience the historical legacy. In the end I decided to go for the simplest and most effective way and challenge Bang to a fight.

I finally made it to the top of the stairs and found the door to the dojo left unguarded. In retrospect that wasn't surprising considering the fact that it was a dojo not a bank and guarded by one of the strongest people on the planet to be fair. Unfortunately that made things a bit awkward and after a moment of hesitation I went and knocked on the door. No sound was made for almost half a minute and so I rapped once more on the door. A mild scuffling was heard outside the door and a man dressed in the typical outfit of one of Bang's pupil's appeared at the door.

"What do you want," the man said and I realised that I had seen him before in the anime although his name eluded me. He was the one who spoke with Saitama during the Super Fight when he was the one who was disguised as Charanko. He was the one with the massive chin who always looked like he smelt something horrendous.

"I've come to challenge Bang," I stated calmly. I knew, I just knew that this is going to turn into a whole massive thing. People seem immensely unable to just let a person in and show them some common courtesy. No, there was going to be posturing… fucking posturing.

"Who the hell do you think you are to take on Master Bang," he said, his attitude going from unpleasant to downright provoking. "Master Bang is the greatest expert on Martial Arts in the world and his Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist is the pinnacle of fighting techniques."

"Of course he is," I replied. "That's why I want to challenge him. I don't go around challenging every person on the streets. That would be pointless and stupid." The man really didn't like my response and he made to close the door but I stepped forward slipping into the room before he could do so. He reached out to grab at me but I simply sidestepped. I wouldn't actively attack him. That would be rude considering that I was in somebody else's dojo unannounced. Still with the difference in ability and my own **Supreme Awareness of the Natural World** it was impossible for him to hit me and so I casually walked forward just out of range of his grabs.

There were a few other people practicing in the dojo although there was no sign of Bang and all eyes locked on me as I walked forward. Apparently many people were making their daily offer to the deity of blind stupidity because at least half a dozen of the morons leapt in and started attacking me and I was left in a dilemma. Contrary to how most media depicts it, knocking somebody unconscious is not as easy as it looks. Every time somebody loses consciousness it means that something has gone seriously wrong to the point of hospitalisation. Still I didn't have any other form of restraining them… or did I?

I chuckled inwardly as a thought came to my head and I put it off for the moment. Restraining them in that particular way would get me no respect, instead I would play with them and show them to truly lead enemies around by the nose. I grinned as I stepped to the side and grasped my opponent's wrist gently tugging him off balance and causing him to overbalance and go crashing into another one of the people around me. A the same time I stepped forward quickly causing another one of Bang's disciples to become alarmed and send out a hastily thrown punch towards me that I **Spun** towards the person next to him. Another two on either side came for me and it was clear they were no longer looking to restrain and instead actually attacking, even if it was done poorly.

I stepped backwards a bit tapping the wrist of one that struck a fraction of a second ago and redirected his blow downwards and at the same time I tapped the elbow of the second one and readdressed the punch from my face to the face of his comrade. **Spin **style was unsurprisingly good at redirecting forces and a single touch was enough to allow me to lever the force behind their blows to a much more pleasant location; for me at least. Annoyingly enough I had never really got to part 7 of the series and thus while I had some idea of what the ability could do I found myself wondering if there was something more than just attempting to use Spin to magnify or redirect energy. I vaguely recall that it can be used for healing but I have Orihime's power; the ability to reverse damage is not something that I find myself lacking in.

These thoughts went through my head as I idly dodged, or redirected my foes attacks causing them to land on their own allies bodies. No serious injuries would be done of course, I would make sure of it, but hopefully this little display of strength would teach them a valuable lesson. What the lesson was I couldn't tell but a lesson was sure to be learnt here. A sudden burst of killing intent, far sharper than the other pupils in the dojo, roused me from my lethargic deflections.

I twisted my neck slightly to pinpoint the source of this intent and I was a bit surprised to see a very familiar face, if quite a bit younger. With an unwarranted sense of shock I realised that I was staring at the slightly younger form of the Hero Hunter Garou. It should have been obvious considering that Bang trained him and he must have already spent a couple of years at the dojo already. His attack was also perfectly timed and directed towards my blind spot and would have caught off guard any normal human. Unfortunately for him he would soon discover that the waters of this world ran deep and below the surface it was a land of monsters. His perfect surprise attack was effortlessly picked up and I gave a thought of how I was going to deal with him.

At first I thought of and disregarded simply treating him normally. His strength exceeded the majority… no he exceeded all of the other students here, but the difference was comparatively negligible and I could try that strategy. Still it seemed a bit disrespectful, if not to his current state, then to the person that he would become and so I decided to give him the gift of my full attention. I let his blow land, a relatively accurate one directed towards the place between the shoulder blades right on the spine and I smiled at the good attempt even as it was utterly ineffective. I turned around with incredible swiftness before I gently reciprocated the gift with my own of a single punch into his cheek.

Even as I moderated the power I saw flecks of blood exit his mouth and in the next second he hit the floor hard. He wasn't unconscious, I wasn't cruel enough for that but I could tell that the air had left his lungs and he weakly tried to struggle to his feet. Suddenly the hall went quiet and the attacks stopped. I turned my head to see Bang standing there a stern yet calm, very little could be read from his face and I couldn't quite tell whether he was angry or not.

"Why did you only hurt the one," he said stoically and slid my hands into my pockets before I took a moment to reply. If I was not careful with my words then I could have a real fight on my hands which was different from the duel I wanted.

"Motivation," I said after a short pause, wondering whether he would get the meaning. I actually really liked Garou as a character and I was beginning to like him as a person as well. If that punch could motivate him to improve himself or show him the strength of the strongest then I would consider it a worthy trade for the temporary pain if I was in his shoes. Still others might not see it that way.

"Okay," Bang said, never losing his aura of calm. "Then let me in turn repay you by offering you motivation." His words clearly showed his attempt and I repaid his warning by taking a loosely defensive stance. No further words were needed and so was no further time. Students scattered forming a circle indicating their respect and unwillingness to be caught up in our fight.

A silent few fractions of a second passed as both Bang and I waited for his pupils to clear the proverbial blast range. But after those scarce fractions Bang advanced and I was momentarily impressed at how smooth his movements were. I caught his first strike with my forearm and felt my bones shudder at the sheer force behind his blow. I was unable to keep stationary as a dozen more blows fired odd curves smashing against my defences and I was forced into motion to defend myself from those sledgehammer-like blows.

For the first time in a long, long while I felt clumsy compared to the man in front of me. My **Spin** style relied on specific movements to tap into an esoteric force to increase power and imbue motion into matter. In so doing it led to the one flaw of this style, there was too much extraneous movement. Many of my motions that I used were specifically undertaken to generate the mystical force known as **Spin** and not to simply hit in a manner that was harder, faster or more precise. Thus I quickly determined that without the additional benefit of the **Spin** my martial arts style… was impractical.

A dozen more blows blitzed towards me and I took blocked them before firing off a few of my own that were similarly deflected. To any onlooker we were barely visible, likely only consisting of a whirl of fists that smashed against each other forming shockwaves. A lull in the combat allowed me to take a quick glance at his stats and I gasped at what I saw.

**Bang**

**Martial Arts Master**

**Title: Silver Fang**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 1 930 425/1 932 818 **

**Mana – 0/0 **

**STR – 1 568 951**

**VIT – 995 777**

**DEX – 3 689 145**

**INT – 868 201**

**WIS – 1 547 966**

**LUK – 5 960**

**Martial Arts Style: Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist**

His health had increased by over one million since I had last seen him. While his health was still low, that was generally a feature that came with being human and it would take a real freak to have the same health as some of the creatures the size of a building. Even then his stats were immense for a human. If this was the 'me' of ten or even five years ago I would have a serious problem in trying to beat him. I stepped backwards from the barrage of blows leaning backwards on my heel and let loose with a kick that shattered the sound barrier and sent a wave of pressurised air towards the older man. To his credit he managed to block most of it but he was cleanly forced back leaving a good five metres of distance between us.

"I'm afraid you seem to be the person offering me motivation," he said and I chuckled at the implications that either one of us were going anywhere near close to all out. If we were to have fought seriously then it was likely that the dojo or even the mountain would be reduced to rubble. "I'm glad you've found a Martial Art of your own even if I do think that Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist is technically better."

"That's actually pretty impressive old man," I said somewhat surprised that he apparently recognized me after all these years even through my disguise. Wait, I was wearing a disguise then as well. I raised my hand to my face and quickly changed back with a flourish revealing my magnificent visage in the manner of a stage magician. From Bang's widened eyes it appeared I was mistaken and that he hadn't recognized me. In the next second he actually leant his head back and laughed.

"The Cloaked King," he said regaining his temperament rather quickly. "I honestly should have seen that coming. Why did you take so long to return and challenge me anyway? Were you making sure you would win?"

"I forgot to be honest," I admitted easily. "It was only since I was in the neighbourhood that I decided to take a look into your dojo."

"The monsters," Bang said nodding in understanding. "I've heard that you have been clearing them."

"When I'm around sometimes," I admitted. "Today a good Samaritan beat me to it though. I have spent most of my recent years in the Abandoned World." The very name drew a breath from the nearby apprentices and even Bang looked a bit disconcerted.

"I would warn you to be careful of that place," he started. "But I suppose you know a lot more about it than me. You probably shouldn't announce it out loud since it is actually illegal."

"And as soon as they provide a witness to me being there I will be in trouble," I said slightly sarcastically. "That law isn't even exercised considering the fact that travelling to that land is a death sentence in the first place."

"Well I'm certainly not going to head there at my age," he said placing a hand on his lower back. I nodded but inwardly I was pretty sure that he was one of the few people that could survive there.

"Do you want to continue this somewhere less fragile," I said. "Help me avenge my previous loss."

"I would but I had just ordered pizza for everybody and we were about to sit down for the Beginning of Month Martial Arts Movie Marathon," Bang said and now I just felt like shit. "You are welcome to join us actually."

That sounded a hell of a lot of fun actually. I took a quick look around the room to see that most of Bang's disciples had sustained no injuries from my minor tussle with them. The exception was Garou who sported a massive bruise on the side of his face. He was looking positively murderously at me and I briefly wondered whether it was because he associated me with 'heroes' or due to the fact that I properly cleaned his clock. It would be interesting to see how this affects the process in a few years' time and so and I simply smiled back at him before I turned to Bang.

"I'd quite like that," I said and I received a nod in reply before I and the rest of the disciples retired to a room with a surprisingly large plasma TV to watch a huge variety of corny Martial Arts flicks.

Later when I returned home I was scolded for never returning to my own birthday party.

xxx

**Half a year after my 26th Birthday**

"So in summation Mr. King," a short glasses wearing girl in a stuffy looking dark suit said. "We are willing to pay top salary for your presence in the Hero Association as well as allow you direct entry into the newest class of Heros, the S-Class." She paused for a while and then continued. "In addition we will provide security for your family members as well as a generous retirement and medical plan. Furthermore we will provide training facilities as well as world-renowned nutritionists if you so desire."

That caught my attention, if only in a negative way and I almost missed the last arrow scrolling down the screen. I glanced at the screen before once more entering KIN into the Dance Dance Revolution machine before I nodded to my competitor, a short bookish-looking brunette girl, who blushed and then ran towards her friends who did that whole huddle thing. I then vaulted over the rail and landed in front of the women and her male companion.

The Hero Association sprang up in a manner similar to canon over the past few months and Silver Fang had even mentioned it the last time that I was there, subtly mentioning that he was doing his part and also extending an invitation towards me. I had slowed down the training over these few months, ever since I've finally mastered the **Golden Spiral**, and received my long awaited helper. All of my **Outsider** abilities had been mastered by this point and there was no Mysterious Being that was a match for me. I was spending more time in the restaurant lately; some days I even had it open for a whole week. That lax work ethic would make most people feel infuriated with me but I had spent so much of my life training and now that I've slowed down I felt torpor fill me.

"Where do I sign," I asked the pair in front of me who, after a moment of freezing, jolted into action. The man pulled out a clipboard and explained the contents of the contract to me and the women pulled out a seriously fancy-looking pen from some form of metal container that looked to be specifically designed for that pen. This was probably a pen worth more than my current apartment and I signed through the documents while trying to recall if I had seen the brand before. I hadn't, indicating it was probably one of those types that went beyond the popular expensive and into the mind-bogglingly stupid expensive; a Patek Phillipe watch compared to a Rolex, and I hate the fact that I know actually even know anything about horology.

I quickly signed off the things with one hand while I grabbed my slush with another, sipping the remains of an icy drink through a straw and casually flinging the empty cup into a bin on the other side of the room that was out of my line of sight causing both of the employees of the Hero Association to gasp in amazement.

"What is the procedure for defeating Mysterious Beings," I asked as I penned my signature on the final page. "I'm not referring to tactics or remuneration or anything of that sort. Should I leave them disabled but alive; is it okay to kill them and if so how would you prefer me to leave the corpse; relatively intact or would you mind if there was a slight mess. I have not done this professionally before."

"Er no," the male started. "You don't have to worry about that. As long as you defeat the monster the Hero Association will handle the clean-up. We wouldn't want to do anything that might impair your thoughts in battle," the man said sounding enthusiastic as he once more reiterated the benefits that the Hero Association can bring me. He laughed as he retrieved the clipboard from my hands. "Of course if you can keep everything in the same location then I suppose the cleaning crew will be happy," he said giving off a noticeably fake chuckle.

"Noted," I said walking past them and stepping out of the arcade door leaving question marks standing above their heads as I ended the conversation. But I didn't have a choice; there was a steadily growing presence in the future that was going to be some trouble in the next few seconds and if I didn't move then people would die and my illustrious hero career would be off to a sour start. There were isolated smatterings of people around, clad in jackets, taking refuge from the chill air.

"I am the great Granzeli," the creature said as it landed on the street causing concrete to crack. At five stories tall this pear-shaped abomination wore a black jacket with coat-tails and a bow tie the kind that a stage magician or something would wear. Five human heads poked out from the neck and they glared malevolently at nearby people.

"All you humans will pay the price for your crass enjoyment of modern music," another one of the heads spoke up. "There is no depth, no soul in that mass-produced refuse. We the remaining members of the Shingeku Orchestra were granted the power to…"

Normally I would listen to the Mysterious Being's speech. They tended to be self-absorbed and slightly rambling but they were sincere and honest which gave them a timeless beauty. They also doubled as eulogies and often became the thing that I remembered most about my opponents. This time I was on the clock however and so I decided to cut him off half way in a very literal sense. Life Fibers sucked vitality from my body and in an instant these miniscule threads wrapped around his body. For a brief tick of time the threads flashed orange, the only indication of the powers of **Shun Shun Rika** working on the threads and then the places where the threads touched rejected the inherent binding of the flesh.

The two employees of the Hero Association exited the building less than a minute after me it was to the sight of a diced corpse and slowly gathering crowd. For a good few seconds they just hung there opened mouth before the guy very carefully put away the contract I had just signed.

"Congratulations," the woman said after a while. "You've saved a lot of human life today. I'll just call the cleaning crew."

"I did not really," I admitted not really looking at them. "Even if I had done nothing then nobody here would have been hurt. Isn't that correct Tornado?" The last few words were directed towards the petite woman who hovered about a hundred metres above me. She had showed up at the same time as the employees of the Hero Association and had just hovered above the building. I was vaguely aware of her presence the entire time that she was there but she surprised me slightly by not coming into the building; maybe she didn't like video games or thought it was beneath her or something.

"Hmph," the young woman said as she easily descended to the ground looking the supernatural movement appearing natural as she executed it without any strain. "I suppose you did an okay job at killing that thing. What were those red strings you threw at it?"

"Hmm, you actually saw the Life Fibers," I said quite impressed. With my own immense strength recently I had almost forgotten what a monster the shorter esper was. I had gotten used to executing any attacks with the Life Fibers as quickly as possible to the extent most people wouldn't actually be able to perceive them; simply so I wouldn't have to explain what they were. "It's a symbiotic relationship with an organism that doesn't normally exist on this continent." I had no desire to speak overmuch.

"To rely on a symbiont like that," Tatsumaki said and there was a vaguely disappointed look on her face. "You shouldn't depend on things like that to save you."

"Heh," I smirked at the thought. It was easy to see where the petite woman drew her inspiration from. "You're sounding quite a lot like Blast now." The last part involuntarily slipped out but I didn't regret it as the immediate effects were interesting. First the small espers eyes widened considerably and then she narrowed them but there was a faint dusting of red on her cheeks that gave me some fascinating insights. It seems the Tornado's womanly passions were directed towards the man who once saved her life. That was so…cute. For a person who was only one year younger than me to partake in such a childish romance; I guess it takes all types to make a world.

"Have you met Blast," she said with a sense of surprise and excitement that was quickly curtailed. "When was the last time you saw him," she said putting on a façade of aloofness. "Blast is the number one hero of the Hero Association and I would like to pay my respects."

So he still became the number one hero in this timeline. That was quite an accomplishment for a retired man. Still despite how much the esper wanted to know I was not going to rat out his location and earn the ire of both him and his wife. Shaking my head I turned around and started to walk away only to find psychic shackles tie themselves around my body.

"Childish," I said as I turned around with little resistance. I shackled myself with my own psychokinesis just so that I can train. Wasn't this taking me a bit too lightly?

**Tatsumaki**

**Expert Esper**

**Title: Tornado of Terror**

**Species – Human/esper**

**Health- 287 254/287 254 **

**Mana – 84 969 541/85 011 252 **

**STR – 23 546**

**VIT – 83 451**

**DEX – 1 254 183 **

**INT – 21 541 154**

**WIS – 18 468 365**

**LUK – 83 656**

**Special Ability: Immense Psychic Powers**

That was a heck of a lot of mana and I felt my mouth contract into a rictus as I saw her stats. I flared my own psychokinesis shattering the shackles in an instant and allowing my body to move unrestrained. Little crackings of air broke as my every minor motion caused a mini shockwave and I watched with some amusement as my opponents eyes widened in sheer surprise. I could see why Saitama thought she looked like a child; namely because her overall attitude was childish to the extreme but in terms of looks she was a grown woman albeit an extremely petite one. That was good; I would have felt like a heel for fighting a child. Even as I had my resolution I watched as her eyes hardened in turn and the very air glowed thick with psychic power.

"Please stop!" the voice came from the side of the road jolting me out of my thoughts and I turned towards the woman who was employed by the Hero Association who was standing there in a clear state of panic.

"If the two of you fight out here you might destroy the whole street," the man backed up her words and I noticed that despite how the coldness of the day he was profusely sweating. His words were nowhere near accurate however. If Tatsumaki and I fought it was likely the entire city would be reduced to rubble.

"We were not going to," I said truthfully. While I couldn't speak for Tatsumaki I would have certainly taken the fight away from this location before things got to serious. If I was absolutely forced to then I would drag her into one of my Instant Dungeons before the fight heated up.

"Yes of course," Tatsumaki responded immediately. "There was no way we would fight in the middle of a city. You think we would be so irresponsible as to fight over here, idiots."

"While I admire your sense of responsibility," I said. "It would be remiss of me to remind you that neither of us to me knowledge have ever caused lives to be lost." I looked at Tatsumaki who nodded while giving the employees a scornful glance. "I do still wish to spar with you," I admitted to the esper. "How about we pick another day when we are both free. I believe I have to attend an orientation now. The fourth document that I signed I believe."

"Oh, that's correct," the male from the Hero Association said. "We have a specialised orientation with a welcome pack and an address from the executives…" As he spoke the man lead me towards a car that was far more luxurious than necessary. It didn't really matter anyway; driving loses a lot of its appeal anyway when you can move faster than the speed of sound.

"Until next time," I said giving her a half-hearted wave before I slipped into the backseat and allowed the two recruiters to drive me away. The last sight I saw was the tiny esper hanging in the air watching me leave.

xxx

**Literally the next day**

"You know when I suggested a spar I didn't expect it to be literally the next day," I said holding the door open while the Tornado of Terror stood in front of me in her hero costume. I was at this moment still wearing just shorts and a bathrobe and I had previously no intention to even leave the house today. "You do know you are supposed to call ahead before you arrive here unannounced; or at least bring a bottle of wine." I stepped backwards allowing her into the room regardless of my words.

"I don't have your phone number, idiot," Tatsumaki harshly replied. "You didn't even put on a cell phone number when you registered for the Hero Association."

"That's true," I admitted as I showed Tatsumaki to a spot on the couch. "I needed to get a new phone number and phone. I don't want to get my personal and hero calls mixed up. Would you like tea or coffee," I said as I stepped into the kitchen."

"Tea, with six sugars," Tatsumaki called in a voice that dared me to make fun of her dining habits.

"I'll lower the sugar but put in some lemon and cinnamon," I said as I took various ingredients and soaked them in the water of the kettle before boiling the water. "Trust me, I do run a restaurant. I even had that guy Pig God pop over to my restaurant a few times and he's always been satisfied."

"That pig would be satisfied with any swill," Tatsumaki said as I walked out of the kitchen. "Wait, how do you change so quickly?" That question was given due to the fact that I was in my hero costume. I actually had a surprising amount of clothes that I had gotten from dungeons but in the end nothing could quite compare to the fit of pure Life Fibers. Besides I think the parasite had an innate sense of fashion that was far greater than my own.

In the end my hero costume ended up being a pair of blue slacks and a white t-shirt with a black jacket that extended all the way to the thigh. This look was finished by a pair of black sneakers and blue gloves. I'm not normally one to care much about what a person wears but I was really very fond of what the Life Fibers had done.

"It looks like you dove into a goodwill and picked whatever stuck to you," Tatsumaki said and my smile froze before I chuckled.

"I can't tell me if you're deliberately trying to provoke me or if this is just your normal disposition but I will gladly take you on regardless."

"We will fight, but first I want to ask you something," Tatsumaki said seriously and I nodded before sitting down on the couch opposite her. "I noticed you are an esper. That you have psychic powers."

"All humans have psychic powers," I pointed out. "Most just don't bother to train or use them."

"That is true, but don't interrupt me," Tatsumaki snapped back. "Were you ever held in a facility for testing Psychic powers when you were younger?"

"I was not," I stated. "I had a perfectly normal childhood. There was a lot of training involved but it was entirely of my own volition. My parents don't really approve of my hero activities."

"I see," Tatsumaki said quietly. "You are a strong esper but if you keep it as your secret trump card then it will never develop. You should use it more."

"Most of the beings I fight are ultimately unworthy of my exertions in the first place," I said. "Defeating them with psychokinesis puts no more strain on the muscle then using it to make a cup of tea." My point was made as two teacups floated into the room and landed in front of their owners. "Tell me when the last time you exerted yourself fighting anything was."

"It has been almost sixteen years since I have had a difficult fight," Tatsumaki admitted with a boastful expression. It was only at that very moment that I comprehended the difference between both of us. She didn't feel urges for a good fight. She wanted to crush the monsters and feel powerful in her abilities. She trained so that she could become the strongest, all without feeling lethargy from a lack of challenge. In that manner she surpassed both Saitama and myself. She honestly saw this sparring match as a way to prove her superiority over me.

"This tea… is actually incredibly good," the short esper said breaking me out of my contemplation. "Does all your food taste like this?"

"I do own a restaurant," I said. "It mostly runs without my intervention but I show up and cook some days. There's even a web page dedicated to when I show up for work and that's when queues start to form outside."

"Now if your fighting is anything like your tea-making then you might actually be worthy of the title of S-Class," Tatsumaki replied with a sniff.

"And who do you think is worthy of S-Class so far," I responded. "Let me guess; just you and Blast." I stood up from my chair draining my tea before telekinetically moving both cups to the sink and washing them. I shook my fist a bit before I struck the air and in the same instant I activated one of my oldest abilities; **Create Instant Dungeon**.

A glowing convergence of cracks appeared in the air before they burst open revealing a door of orange light. If one was able to look through the orange light (and we both were able to some degree) one would be able to see a desolate landscape devoid of life. This Instant Dungeon was called The Barrens and was my go to when practicing destructive techniques.

"What… wait, what," Tatsumaki started to say but it didn't look like she could quite get the words out. Her eyes were wide and this was clearly something she had never seen before. Her actions seemed slightly naïve after my time in the Abandoned World. If you spotted a weird or unknown ability in that place then any moment of hesitation would likely spell your doom, or at least result in a lost limb.

"I'm heading inside," I started. "To a place away from any possible voyeurs who wish to spy on our battle." I didn't use the word spar. Judging from both of our personalities that word would be too light to describe the carnage that would soon result. "If you still want to fight me then simply follow me and step through the door."

At that moment I didn't wait for any more debates and I instead stepped into my Instant Dungeon. The temperature dropped by nearly ten degrees and the smell of my living room was replaced by rocks and dirt. I walked up to one of the bigger rocks and sat down and waited.

**Oh Wow. This is my second most popular story in just two chapters. This chapter properly kicked my ass or maybe it was life that made an assault on my rear end and I'm merely passing the blame to this chapter. I wonder.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Through the eyes of the Strongest Esper**

Whatever Tatsumaki was expecting to see when she entered the orange door a desolate and barren world was not what she expected. A chill ran across her entire body as she looked up and saw a pale red sky unlike any she had ever seen before. She desperately tried to keep her expression under wraps as she turned towards the man she had requested a spar with who casually sat upon one of the squat boulders that decorated this desolate land. King was an existence that she would never underestimate and it was for a good reason that people called him the The Strongest Man on Earth. The number of Mysterious Beings he killed was substantial and ever expanding and ever since he had killed that wolf creature years ago he was placed upon an almost unassailable podium as the most capable Hero and try as she might Tatsumaki had proved herself incapable of taking over that position from him.

And if what she was seeing here was real and not some twisted illusion then he had been hiding a lot of his power from the world. Before she had met him yesterday she was under the impression that he was a martial artist, but that impression faded when she saw the red strings and it had now completely disappeared, further as she felt his psychic power as soon as she found herself in this strange bleak land. Was this some form of psychic power or other esoteric power that she hadn't seen before? If it was caused by psychic power then she would have no idea how to even copy it.

"It is possible for an esper to enter and exit these places," King stated as if he was reading her mind and Tatsumaki immediately jumped to damage control clearing her thoughts and fixing the blank faced hero with a suspicious glance. "There are a few creatures in The Abandoned World that have learnt to utilise their psychic powers in order to teleport. They make the worst type of ambush predators," King admitted with a wry smile as he stood up from the rock and Tatsumaki couldn't help but read into that expression. Had he fought those creatures, studied them, and killed them? His words seemed to hint at that but she couldn't be sure. She must see if she could undertake the same learning.

"Shall we begin," the taller man said and in the next second Tatsumaki took to the skies as her opponent exploded with psychic energy; the psychic shackles that he wore removed in a display that cratered the ground for a hundred metres, reducing chunks of the earth into rubble and dust. Even despite the lack of visibility Tatsumaki could easily sense the man by his recently revealed vast psychic presence. Well the word 'vast' couldn't go without a qualifier. His powers were certainly less than hers, a mere fraction, of her total power, but they were far above her sisters and all of the other weaker espers. Just with his psychic powers alone he would qualify to become an S-Class.

Tatsumaki gestured and the rubble and dust reversed their motion pelting towards the dust cloaked figure and Tatsumaki watched in approval as his hands lashed out towards the pieces of debris crushing dozens of them per second. This much at least was expected for him to even be put in the same class and so Tatsumaki increased the size of the rubble sending larger and larger pieces faster and faster, tearing the ground apart to fuel her barrage of ammunition until small hills were flinging themselves towards the hero in order to bury him.

Once more the area around King exploded as his psychic powers exploded in a sphere of vibrations that disintegrated the matter around him to pieces. It was less of an involuntary explosion and more of a controlled disruption and Tatsumaki noted that the effects were far more pronounced. Everything within five hundred metres of him had been utterly vaporised. As the dust cleared away King stood on with his arms crossed on the air and Tatsumaki noticed with some interest that he was using Psychic footholds to stand on rather than just lifting himself up. It was an interesting idea that he must use to take advantage of his strength while still being able to move in the sky; a move that she wouldn't be able to take similar advantage of as she lacked comparable strength.

"Have you warmed up," King said looking relaxed as he shook his hands before clenching them into two fists. From her observations there were minor rips and tears in his shirt but no damage to his skin. Tatsumaki nodded in acknowledgement to his query and he promptly bent his knees against the platform of psychic energy and launched towards her. She reached forward with her psychokinesis and attempted grab directly onto him and for the first time in her life she felt herself countering resistance. This one person that she was fighting right now had more weight than any mountain she had previously lifted and in an unprecedented moment of panic she found herself unable to stop him completely. In desperation she summoned a tornado of cutting air with that drilled towards him at high speeds.

The sky exploded as fist met her esper powers and Tatsumaki found herself flying backwards a few dozen metres. Opposite her King was also thrown backwards about by an even further distance distance until he stabilized standing at ninety degrees in the degree in clear defiance of the law of gravity. That was unexpected and quite harrowing and Tatsumaki forced herself to keep her calm look. Never in all her years had had she ever run into an opponent that could resist her psychokinesis. She would have to take an entirely different approach in order to combat King.

Drawing deep into a her well of psychic power she took advantage of the numerous debris that was lying loose and with a slight exertion of her will the ground lifted up before launching itself towards King. The speed that she fired the ammunition was incomparable to her previous attacks and the bits of rubble alighted due to friction giving the appearance of a reverse meteor shower that filled up the sky.

"Amazing," King said with genuine appreciation and she watched as his skin split open revealing dozens of those red threads protruding out of his body like wriggling worms. Like some freakish puppet master he made gestures with his arms that whirled around those strings slicing through rock after rock grinding the landmass down into debris further. Tatsumaki smirked at that before she gathered the finally ground dust and in one motion buried the famed 'World's Strongest Man'. The sand, almost liquid in its consistency, managed to slip through his net and encase him. Tatsumaki could feel psychic feedback as his own energies collided with hers like a dam hastily built to contain a raging flood. Ultimately her floods would sweep away any futile resistance that he could muster and…

"What was that?" she said speaking out loud for the first time in the fight as the cocoon of dust exploded before it was vaporised. King's psychic powers hadn't increased by one iota but suddenly the dust was being repelled by his body. At the same time a chorus of thumping sounds resounded as if a dozen drums were beating simultaneously. A shockwave blew away most of the dust at that moment revealing what could only be King. She had to deliberately associate the being with King because under any other circumstance she would think that she was confronted by a Mysterious Being.

Thick blonde hair sprouted from every scrap of exposed skin and draped down to the ground like a golden robe. From beneath the fur a pair of bloodshot red eyes locked onto Tatsumaki and a single golden-clad clawed hand rose very slowly before it fell with equal alacrity. A sense of danger honed by well-trained instincts warned Tatsumak and she darted to the side a second before a wave of cutting air brushed past her leaving a cut on one of her sleeves before it impacted the ground scarring bottomless trenches into the surface.

"Wolf King Mode," King said and Tatsumaki became rapidly more alert as he closed the distance between her and him in an instant. That crescendo of drumbeats spike as he raised both of his hands into the air as if embracing the sky and then he brought his hands down causing the heavens to become turbulent. Cutting ripples sliced towards her and Tatsumaki retaliated with her psychic force in full quelling the deadly ripples.

For the first time in a long time she felt herself putting in actual effort to defeat a foe.  
For the first time she felt her use her full power outside of training.  
For the first time in a long time she felt that she may just lose.

A moment too slow in her movement and three long lines were carved into her psychic barrier and she forced herself to refocus the barricade. King's seemingly random movements honed onto her in that lapse of focus and she found herself besieged by a single blow that sent her hurtling to the ground below.

She rapidly controlled her descent and touched down gracefully before she steeled herself sent up three psychic tornadoes of cutting winds that converged into a single explosion of pressure greater than any place on earth. King was not idle when she attacked and his own force met against hers in the middle creating an area of absolute pressure before it exploded causing the sky to turn white for a long moment.

Despite King's impressive power up it came at the cost of the fact that he lost all ability to hide. In fact Tatsumaki could feel the energy pulse through his body in a manner that made his attacks obvious. A star fell to the ground and Tatsumaki thrust upwards at the same time with a wave of psychic power sending river after river of psychic power. Against the tremendous momentum downwards by King Tatsumaki was finally able to go all out and second by second she reinforced her psychic tornados until finally her power overcame that of her opponent.

King hit the ground over a dozen kilometres away and there was a brief moment of pause in which Tatsumaki could feel his Chi start to shift and she knew for certain that all his injuries were healed. It was likely that even if he lost a limb or was chopped in half he would be able to regenerate; maybe his healing factor could even approach that of the Zombie that they recently got on board. Knowing that she felt a bit of weight leave her shoulders as she realised that she could treat King as a monster that she held no restraint for rather than a human without fear of him dying.

That insight gave her a freeing feeling and she snapped to in time to realise that massive forces of energy were hurtling towards her beneath the ground. She leapt backwards immediately raising walls of psychic energy at the same time as a trio of red pillars composed of thousands of wriggling threads exploded through the surface. All three were blocked by the psychic walls and then Tatsumaki felt a brief burst of pain as an object collided with her chest, the psychic shield unable to bleed off all of its momentum. The resulting force chucked her backwards and she was forced to anchor herself on the ground. Her head cleared in time to see a severed hand connected to one of those red strings retract into the dust cloud.

The floodgates opened at this point and Tatsumaki dodged to the side in time to avoid a hand that missed her by a foot. She examined the red string briefly for a second wondering if she should cut it before she immediately broke off that thought and threw up the strongest shield she had created since the fight. Like some form of grappling hook that hand dug into the stone of the ground before the red string retracted pulling her opponent towards her at speeds belying belief. Fist met shield once more and it was a crunching sound as the shield cracked but held and Tatsumaki lashed out with hundreds javelins of psychic energy trying to force him into defence.

Spears of energy that could each obliterate were quashed by the hairs on his body causing light bruises and scratches that nearly instantly healed. Simultaneously King reached past the wall grabbing her psychic shield and slamming her into the already cratered ground. Desperately Tatsumaki reached out at him to do some damage and she felt his neck break before it snapped back into position as soon as she let go. She felt herself slammed down again and she grasped onto the hand and with all her energy stirred the chi in his body trying to disrupt that monstrous life force. That caused him visible discomfort and he released her stumbling backwards and clutching his hands.

Tatsumaki floated upwards simultaneously trying to regain her breath. She pointed at her foe raising the gravity to five hundred times normal and she noticed with some gratification that it caused King to stumble a bit. Instantly she created a fissure in the ground forcing him downwards before slamming shut the earth and forcing the ground to embrace King. Desperately she increased the force of gravity while condensing the ground over and over until all the air was forced out and the rocks went over their compressive strength fracturing and reducing to sand before they remerged due to the omnipresent pressure.

Under most circumstances this would be a certain kill but Tatsumaki would never be able to call it as such. Despite being buried under pressures that would burst a normal human she could only feel Kings life force stay steady and she could feel the hero was in no danger of dying soon. At most she could call this a stalemate and Tatsumaki didn't know if she was disappointed that she didn't win or disappointed that she didn't lose. She was about to release her psychic prison when she felt an ominous shift below the ground.

The closest thing she had ever felt to that menacing adjustment was when she had to stop an active volcano. She would never forget that horrific feeling of heat and pressure building before the inevitable explosion and she consciously flew upwards about a hundred metres before reinforcing her control over the ground.

Nothing helped and in the next second Tatsumaki saw as the ground start to steam as the massive life force that was King reached even greater heights and started to swim upwards through the now molten rock. The speed of ascent was comparatively slow but it was steady as if unaffected by all of Tatsumaki's efforts and in a scant few seconds Tatsumaki saw a pitch-black hand stretch out of the ground and push upwards. King ascended from the ground like a very well-muscled zombie; an exceptionally well-muscled zombie. It appeared that magma was a bit too hot for normal clothes to survive and all his clothes except for a pair of bright red shorts were ashes falling off his body.

His skin was now dark black with veins that glowed a molten red all over his body and there was a persistent steam released from his body that gave him a glossy look. All of the hair on his body from his previous transformation had disappeared, probably burnt off from the heat she could feel even now and two blood red eyes glowed menacingly at her, one adorned with three orange lines. This wasn't a transformation that he had used in public before and Tatsumaki easily understood why. Right now the World's Strongest Man looked like nothing more than the World's Most Terrifying Monster.

Without even speaking he raised his hand and Tatsumaki gasped as she felt the enormity of his energy condense into his closed fist and his psychic energy and chi begin to spin at different frequencies before merging. Dread spiked in her heart and she slammed up her psychic barriers to their maximum leaving nothing in reserve until a wall of psychic energy as tough as diamond and over a dozen metres materialised. Her senses, muffled by the presence of the wall, vaguely picked up his energy begin to spin faster and faster until it became deafening to her senses and it felt as if the entire world was turning and turning. This lurching sensation froze for one moment and Tatsumaki barely heard King speak.

"The World Burns," he said his voice bestial, he still managed to convey the capital letters behind that phrase. And it was an attack deserving of all the capital letters as an instant after she said it she felt her skin to start to dry out and her clothes beginning to dry. Her eyes widened even as she felt them begin to dehydrate and she immediately started using her psychic energy to cool herself down. It was a nifty trick that she had found necessary after the aforementioned volcano incident and it had already saved her many times before and again today.

She was debating whether she should just break the wall and focus entirely on heat prevention when an unstoppable force hit her defences. The world went white and the temperature soared until the air started to boil. She retreated backwards as fast as she could feeling the tidal wave of energy start to burn through her shield as if it was paper. Then she took to the skies racing upwards feeling the heat cool degree by degree. Finally when the temperature dropped to a manageable degree she just hung there panting. Her head ached and heart raced and even the act of holding herself aloft came at a price of her remaining energy.

Her barrier had collapsed some time during the fight and she didn't even notice it in all the panic. Slowly she turned herself downwards and what she saw nearly caused bile to rise in her throat. The ground for an untold amount of miles had turned to lava. Even flying so far up in the sky she couldn't see the end of it. The total area probably was greater than some of the smaller cities. From the ground a black speck appeared growing until it took the form of King still in his monster form.

"I surrender," Tatsumaki said with unwillingness in her voice. While she could probably tough it out and hope for a time limit to this transformation she knew her current limits and she was already approaching them at the end of the last form. At this point it was not possible for her to win. Honestly fighting King had been tiring and it felt less like fighting a specific fighter and more like fighting a horde of experts each with their own specialty. His speed, strength, durability, regeneration, techniques and even his psychic powers were individually enough to place him amongst the top of her associates and when he combined them then it lead to a truly monstrous individual.

"Are you sure," King said sounding an odd mix between happy and disappointed. When she nodded her ascent he seemed to relax before his body was enveloped in a wave of steam that spread outwards. A few seconds later that steam was blown away by psychic power revealing King standing there as per normal, in just short red pants and no shirt. His skin had returned to his normal tan although it was significantly more pink than usual. He looked incredibly tired but there was a strong determination still within his eyes that reaffirmed that Tatsumaki was not the winner.

"You are the Strongest Esper," King said his words solemn like he was conveying a title on her, but she heard the inevitable subtext beneath it 'but you're not stronger than me.' The worst part that she couldn't disagree. The distance between the two of them was by no means insurmountable but the cruel reality was that on this day she was simply the lesser. Not that it would dissuade her she thought as she crossed her arms over her chest. Now more than ever she was motivated to improve her strength. She would find a way to overcome the abilities of King and the next time she would be the victor.

"Keep that seat warm for me," she said brusquely before she turned to leave before freezing as she realised that the door out of this place wasn't visible.

"You're smiling," King said causing Tatsumaki to freeze dead almost raising her hand to her lips subconsciously. "I wonder why that is?"

"I'm not," Tatsumaki denied instantly trying to figure out just what caused her to briefly grin. For a fleeting moment she had felt joyful and she wasn't sure why. "Why would I smile for a loss?" she scoffed.

"I think a smile looks good on you," King said almost mockingly. "You should try to wear it more often."

"And you should try investing in proper clothes instead of walking around half-naked," Tatsumaki retorted instantly before immediately regretting it. "Just open the portal back to your house," she said through gritted teeth just wanting this humiliation to end.

"Okay," King agreed and Tatsumaki watched as another orange door appeared in front of him. "Since you can't teleport I'll give you a lift back," he generously offered before stepping into the portal before she could respond. Tatsumaki gritted her teeth before she wearily drifted up to the orange portal and followed him out of the barren landscape.

xxx

**Six months after the fight through the eyes of the Strongest Hero**

Being a part of the Hero Association was different then how I expected. I hadn't actually met any of the other heroes yet and no meeting had been called. Occasionally I got calls asking me very politely where I was and if I could perhaps take on this monster that had shown up and I usually acquiesced if they were anywhere nearby, but they were never more than demons. The only major change was that I had to report all my monster kills but I could tell they were deliberately not making a hassle of it for me and so I simply gave a location and a description before leaving the scene, no paperwork required.

There was a reward ceremony that I politely but firmly declined. The sum of my two lifetimes is almost fifty years old and that makes me far too old to worry about those circle-jerks. Instead I would rather jump into one of my instant dungeons and have a life or death fight or just watch something on my laptop. Still I had achieved one of the highest monster kill rates in the Hero Association as well as the highest rescue rate and the reason for that was mostly due to my business partner.

He/she/it hovered next to me invisible to anybody but myself. Its top half was three feet tall and composed of white and black lines that twisted downwards fused into a bowl shaped almost like an upside-down UFO. It sat hunched over and four large white eyes flickered as it gazed upon dozens of holographic images that surrounded its body. It had four thin bone-like arms with a plastic texture and two of those arms tapped down on a u-shaped keyboard that encircled it while one held a pen-taking notes and the last one held a tablet aloft eternally watched by at least one eye.

This was my stand that I had unlocked when I fully mastered my Spin and it was almost useless in direct combat but he had great utility for my job. Its power was quite close to telepathy but much stronger in that he could sense the subconscious thoughts of every creature in a massive radius. In other words every scrap of ill-formed belief, every half-forgotten experience, every skill and piece of engrained knowledge, every lofty achievement and paralysing fear and even the beings deepest sense of self and vision of reality was recorded by my overachieving business partner.

Of course I wouldn't take a scalpel to a person's mind without… Actually I just flat out wouldn't do it. That is a road I'm just not going to go down ever. What it did do was it allowed me to get a basic feeling of any monsters around as their thoughts tended to be on a whole different wave length. Strangely enough it also helped detect humans with monstrous powers as their subconscious also tended to differ greatly from the norm. The second thing I could pick up was if a large amount of humans were terrified, angered or any other strong emotion and I often used it to rescue people. Its third ability was the most powerful but I didn't really like and so seldom used its offensive ability only using its initial activation on unconscious or dead opponents.

was the reason I was here today in the Hottodorai Desert. I had been taking a day off of everything just in time to watch the latest blockbuster that had been receiving great reviews from critics. It sucked, honestly I don't quite know why I even read critics obviously we are on two very separate pages in two very separate books in two different libraries because they evidently did not watch the same fucking movie as me.

I was only mildly irritated but was over exaggerating it in my mind for my own amusement when my companion piped up with an announcement that there were a large but dwindling number of people in apparent distress. That was a distressingly common occurrence in everyday life and I took immediately left the city limits while simultaneously turning on my GPS and calculating the general area of the location; or I would have if I had remembered to charge my phone last night. Blushing slightly I placed the brick back in my pocket and I turned my head towards my stand who was looking at me judgingly before it pulled out its own phone; fused to its hands and showed me a location that sat comfortably in the middle of nowhere.

I picked up the pace striding easily through the hot sand and I was once again thankful that in this life I was practically fireproof and sunburn had never been a problem for me. If I was anything like my last life then I would have been a lobster by now. I briefly contemplated having a seafood day in my restaurant before I stopped briefly a moment before the ground opened and a spider the size of a bus appeared from the collapsing sand beneath me leaping up to try and impale me with fangs the size of my arm.

The spider looked like it was a wolf. That means that it was the disaster class wolf and not an actual wolf. Nor did it look like a Wolf Spider. In fact it looked closer to a Golden Wheel Spider. Its pale golden hue was rather beautiful to see and I took an appreciative look at it as I vaulted over its lunging jaws and swiftly severed its neck. took special notice of that and I saw the floating stand scribble a few notes as it typed out a report while taking pictures of the corpse with the phone that was fused to its hand. Ten seconds later the procedure stopped and it ignored the fallen corpse treating it like nothing but a discarded piece of trash.

Actually it was quite rare to see Mysterious Beings appear in such a remote wilderness. The majority of them tended to appear around cities in their eternal mission to ruin somebody's day; or maybe that was only because I was called to deal with them when they are ruining somebody's day and my perspective was skewed. Regardless of the situation I was pretty close to the area in which the signals of distress originated from and so I activated **Supreme Awareness of the Natural World** in an attempt to track down the source.

As soon as I extended my senses over the sands I immediately pinged onto the location of the distress and if it wasn't for **Gamers Mind** I wouldn't have been able to keep my stoic demeanour. Beneath the sands lay an enormous facility stretching almost a mile in width and a couple dozen stories in height composed of steel and concrete. I whistled in appreciation before heading to the a specific spot in the air that was occupied by a nearby cactus and with a flick of my hand a sent a wave of red threads towards the cactus skinning it of its flesh to reveal a vent probably just shy of two feet in diameter and covered with some kind of advanced filter to prevent the sand from getting in.

I ripped the filter off before using **The Ultimate Lifeform** to shrink my body down to my seven year old self before broadening my cheeks slightly, darkening my hair and slimming down my shoulders a bit more. Annoyingly enough my scars didn't disappear despite the process a testament to the power that caused them. In one movement I tore off the filter and darted down the vent with alacrity crawling through the tiny shaft with inhuman flexibility. As I descended into the bowels of the earth a somewhat familiar ringing hit my ears as the unmistakable sound of an emergency alarm rang out. The alarm only grew louder as I exited the vent dropping into the ground and relocating all my bones again to their proper place.

Flashing red lights illuminated a concrete corridor and one of the metal doors on my right had been crumpled outwards like tinfoil. More alarmingly to me a couple of mangled corpses in body armour decorated the floor. Around them spent ammo cases lay indicating that while they had put up a fight they had not been a match. I idly picked up a revolver of some kind from a pouch attached to a discarded leg before checking the clip, noticing it was still full and hadn't even been used yet. Lastly I gave a careful inspection of the most senior looking corpse. Ignoring the odour of viscera in the air I turned towards the smashed door and walked through it casually. I couldn't detect any humans on this floor but that didn't mean there were no other life forms.

In fact buzzing sounds like the sound of hundreds of flying insects announced the arrival of the same hundreds of flying insects that burst from grates in the floor. They looked like swollen bees but with two pairs of wings and a beetle torso and they immediately inverted their body pointing large needle-like stingers towards me before accelerating at bullet speeds. Unfortunately the danger that they possessed was minimal and I merely stretched out my hand and caught the swarm in a net of psychic power before crushing them and allow them to drop harmlessly to the ground their bodies bursting into an acid that devoured the metal floor.

I stepped over the minor distraction and finally found an elevator that looked to be in some state of working order, although from the looks of it a form of identification was required. When I first got here I had collected information on the corpse for this purpose but I didn't need it right now as I picked up my phone a second before it rang, quickly pushed accept and placed it on my ear.

"Hello, Metal Knight," I said feeling some slight joy at the sucking in of air on the other side of the phone. I seldom used my future sight for day to day matters but I would make an exception in order to troll people who randomly phoned me.

"Hello King," the elderly inventor said. "How did you find out it was me?"

"Your caller ID," I lied. "I assume that you have tracked all of the phones issued by the Hero Association."

"Which means that I know that my caller ID is not located anywhere on this phone," Metal Knight said. "Are you aware where you are?"

"Some form of secret lab," I said. "Seem to specialise in the study or creation of Mysterious Beings. The modus operandi doesn't fit the House of Evolution though."

"Why do you say that?" Metal Knight inquired.

"Please don't try to feel out my intelligence," I said. "Of the two that I've seen so far none had humanoid shapes. In addition the House of Evolution is not so incompetent as to get their entire base overrun with specimens."

"True," Metal Knight said. "I have been aware of them for a while. They are known as the Anti-Mystery Union and they specialise in the study of Mysterious Beings in order to fight against them."

"Who funds them?" I asked not really expecting an answer.

"I am not aware of their ultimate backers," Metal Knight lied, but I didn't bother calling him out on it. Instead I morphed my hand to that of the slain soldier and pressed down on the thumb scanner before morphing my eye and looking into the retinal scanner causing the elevator to let out a ding and slide open to reveal a mostly empty shaft.

"What is your goal here?" I asked as I leapt down into the elevator shaft. "I'm not buying that your goal is to rescue the people below or at least not without some recompense."

"That is correct," the robot summoning nominal hero said. "I want to obtain the fruits of their research."

"It's good to have dreams," I said as I crawled down to the floor below. I reached into the crack between the doors allowing the Life Fibers to slip in and with one swift movement I tore open the elevator doors.

"That's all you are going to say," Metal Knight said as I slipped through the doors and onto the floor below. A shuffling noise caught my attention and I turned to see a broken fleshy human torso started crawling out from around the corner.

"Give me a valid reason to allow you to do so," I said as I walked slowly towards the torso only to stop as I saw more and more flesh, bones and organs start shuffling around the corner. The creature looked like something dredged up from the mind of HP Lovecraft or more accurately now day's one of the really fucked up Dark Souls bosses. I could defeat the thing with just my esper abilities right; I didn't really want to touch it.

"The research could lead to breakthroughs on out studies of monster behaviour which could save lives," Metal Knight said immediately.

"You're treating me like an idiot," I said as I put the phone between my shoulder and ear and moved backwards. This thing of flesh looked as if at least twenty humans had melted together and it moved incredibly slowly. "Testing on monster behaviour wouldn't lead to this. In addition Mysterious Beings differ so greatly in attitude, temperament and goals that any research gained would not be universally applicable or even practical to implement in any situation. Would you like me to construct the narrative or would you like to actually treat me with some sincerity."

"Fine," Metal Knight said after a while as I backed up ignoring the shambling, shuffling, squirming bulk. "They were trying to work out how monsterification works and how to prevent or revert it. They were also trying to create allied Mysterious Beings that were devoted to humanity as soldiers," the last part was said reluctantly but firmly.

"They always do," I said. "Give me five minutes, there appear to be some humans close," my words were spoken as a door flung open and a swart hand frantically gestured for me to get inside the room. With one last look at the shuffling creature creeping slowly towards me I acquiesced and quickly snuck into the door a moment before it slammed shut behind me to be greeted by a shotgun pointed right at my face.

"Who are you," a pale thin glasses wearing redhead with bandages over half his face said as he pointed the gun at me. Despite his attempt at looking brave there was a noticeable shake to his hands which I couldn't help but take advantage of.

"Safety's on," I said and watched as he practically leapt back fumbling over the shotgun in a desperate attempt to switch a button that wasn't there. I didn't even think they made safety on a shotgun. After a long few seconds of him checking he once more redirected the shotgun towards him.

"What the hell do you think you are doing," the man said keeping a distance.

"Easy Egan," the other member of the room said as she came into view having locked and bolted the door behind me. "He's human." She was a woman of dark skin and frizzy hair.

"Then why have I never seen him before," the man said gesturing towards me with the shotgun.

"I'm new," I said giving a wave. "I just arrived at the facility yesterday. Do these types of things really happen a lot? I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor who," he said completing the reference as he eyed me up. "You look very young for a doctor."

"Doctor Tennant," I said lamenting at a world in which nobody would get the reference. "So who let the monsters out?"

"We don't know," the woman said after exchanging a look. "Neither of us worked on the fourth floor. I'm Liz by the way."

"Interesting so all the monsters are kept on the fourth floor and you have never worked on that part," I said. "Have you tried contacting anybody from the outside?"

"The base blocks all outside signals," the man said. "The base should have sent an emergency signal out to the Heads." Surprisingly enough he didn't sound eager about that and I wondered if the so-called Heads would be just as ferocious towards the survivors then the monsters. It didn't make sense to lose good talent but a lot of people didn't operate within the bounds of common sense.

"Well here's a piece of advice about contacting the outside world," I said. "Don't." In one fluid motion I picked up the phone before hitting return call. "They've let monsters run everywhere Chief," I said watching as the look on the faces of my companions morphed to apprehension and even fear. "Yeah we've still got people here. How many? I've only run across two so far. Evacuation comes in at second priority. Got it boss, I'll backup the data and dispose of the experiments."

"I will keep an eye out for incoming forces," Metal Knight said. "You are on the second floor and one below is the third floor where the server is. Just plug the phone into the server and I will have access to the facility. You can focus back on the civilians now."

"Okay, cheers boss," I said as I ended the call. Quite frankly it didn't surprise me that he could hear me even when the phone was closed. It was quite nice to have an ally that was incredibly competent. It allowed me to do stuff without worrying about people being on the wrong page.

"So you're working for the Heads," Liz said nervously. "Do you need our help?"

"Indeed," I replied. "You can just relax and stay safe. Don't let anybody else in until I get back." I walked towards the door, looking through the barred windows and noticing that the monstrous flesh was gone. I waved as I unbolted the door and stepped back into the corridor. I watched out of the corner of my eyes as the door was swiftly shut behind me and I walked around the corner and straight into the dozens of arms of the living flesh. Two seconds later as I walked past the mass of blood and guts on the floor I picked up the phone again and put it against my ear.

"Looks like there was some human experimentation going on," I said. "Still you can tell they weren't as concerned about the final result as the process. So since when did you get interested in the monster experimentation business Metal Knight?"

"I was observing its existence," Metal Knight said. "I am not one of the Heads."

"I have no doubt that your observations included whatever use you could obtain from them," I said. "While I can respect a go-getter attitude into examining future threats there is not one second that I believe that you weren't using them. If you have the influence then you should warn the assault team to stay back."

"I don't," Metal Knight admitted as I walked back to the elevator I had had broken out of. "The Heads are a secret organisation and while I have some influence within the group I am not a major contributor."

"I'll believe you for now," I said as I walked down the walls and tore through the doors of the third floor dropping down onto the floor of the server. "Do you have a map of the floor?"

A second later a beeping sound came from my phone announcing the arrival of a message. I opened up the message and looked into a map that was clearly labelling a path to the server room. Without another word I closed the phone and started walking in the direction required. Before I had even walked twenty metres down the corridor the walls collapsed inwards revealing a pair of massive bulky muscled lions that oozed black pus from every orifice.

They moved at one and I dodged backwards as their claws tore apart the air crushing the ground beneath them. I was starting to see a pattern in the madness and it was not one that I particularly liked. The spider and the swarm of insects were 'complete' and 'natural' Mysterious Beings while the melted humans and these lions were altered twisted monstrosities that came about as a result of the experimentations. Still I hadn't found a single one that was sapient so far. I briefly looked into the mind of the Oozing Lions to confirm but then I saw something that instantly changed my opinion. Like an insidious tentacle a foreign influence slipped into their minds forcing their bodies to act as puppets in order to assault me.

I whistled in appreciation at the situation before stepping forward and throwing forward one **Spin** infused punch. The air pressure soared before turning into an unstoppable wave that crushed the two Mysterious Beings without any rebuttal. Without any further consideration I stepped past them although was far more active in recording the details of their defeat.

Something was sitting on, in my guess, the fourth floor controlling a good number of the monsters in the facility. I drew a pair of knives that I had saved for this point and as I walked onwards the ground exploded and a dozen Venus Flytraps with human torsos emerged from the tiles and so I pruned them; then came about six pig-like creatures with over a dozen sharp mouths over their boy charged down the corridor and so I butchered them. Cut, slash, skewer, slice, fillet and skin; my hands moved at lightning speeds covering the ground with chunks of meat and blood. My knife skills weren't the best but when it came to fighting against a horde of enemies they were efficient and swift.

It didn't hurt that these beings consisted mostly of tigers and so far I hadn't even seen a single being that would qualify for demon class. I moved forward as hordes of weak enemies stepped in my way and I carved them up without any prejudice, never once slowing until finally I came to the server room. I pushed against the door breaking the lock and stepping into the room filled with monitors and other important looking paraphernalia. A sudden ringing disrupted my thoughts and I picked the phone up to hear an increasingly familiar voice.

"Just plug the phone into a USB drive and accept the transfer and I will be able to access all the files," Metal Knight said.

"You still haven't convinced me to let you have the research," I said. "I believe that if I were to give you this then you would be too tempted to continue the inhuman experimentation."

"And you think that if you hide the research then anything will change," Metal Knight said threateningly.

"Latitude 29 degrees, 31 minutes, 11 seconds south and Longitude 74 degrees, 2 minutes, 33 seconds west," I said with a ferocious grin. "How close am I Metal Knight?"

"How did you get my coordinates?" Metal Knight said his words were no longer as aggressive and there was a hint of serious caution.

"I'm not technologically adverse," I said. "I can trace a signal no matter how many relays you put it through. Whether it's 23 or 1023 I will be able to track you down Metal Knight." The hero paused at that moment and he only spoke again after a long while.

"The Heads?" Metal Knight asked after that time.

"I wouldn't underwrite their life insurance if I was you," I said tellingly with a hint of a grin on my face. "My definition of a monster has always been someone who brings harm to society. Species has never even come into it and there is only one outcome upon a monster meeting me."

"Understood," Metal Knight stated. "Let me withdraw my interests from the group and I will assist you."

"Very generous," I stated somewhat sardonically. "Now let's see what these researchers have been up to." While the computer was locked it wasn't very secure and it took me a scarce few minutes to hack into it. I calmly read over the results of the research and I could feel my face twist into a scowl even through my **Gamer's Mind**.

"They started off capturing Mysterious Beings and comparing it to likely pre-evolved forms in an attempt to isolate the mutating factor. Then they tried to induce artificial mutation. Then they tried to revert the mutation. Then they tried to do controlled mutation and get a different result," I stated summarising years and years of research in a few sentences.

"That doesn't sound like such a bad chain of thinking," Metal Knight said.

"The largest problem is that they didn't finish a step before they moved onto the next one," I stated with disappointment. "They came across a dozen different examples in hundreds of non-sapient monsters gathered from everywhere they could get their hands on. Then they decided to take those non-mutated monsters and subject them to stimuli to compare the mutated versions. While this was going on they were trying all these experiments to try to revert the monster in possibly the most scattershot approach I've ever seen. With all these rails running independently it's no wonder they got it wrong."

"They didn't start with a firm premise and they didn't properly control the proceedings," Metal Knight said.

"Still I believe there is more to this tale," I said. "There is an observed tendency for the director to aim for larger and grander experiments and trying to have greater and greater control over these experiments. This tendency experienced a marked increase over time since the experiments started."

"Growing megalomania," Metal Knight mused. "Obsessions are often one of the triggers to monsterification."

"I also noticed that a lot of the experiments are still under the control of a mysterious force," I stated. "I would give even odds that it is the director."

"Is the director's office on the fourth floor?" Metal Knight asked.

"Precisely," I said walking to the door to see a hallway filled with those crappy Mysterious Beings. "Not going through there," I said while slipping the phone back into my pocket. While they weren't that strong they were incredibly gross to fight and I had already expended enough concentration on not messing up my shirt. Actually my shirt mainly consisted of Life Fibers at this point otherwise it wouldn't have been able to shrink when I shrunk myself to fit in the grate.

In the end I was just getting lazy of fighting off all these monsters. They weren't even that fun. Most Mysterious beings that I fought would give some backstory and at least have some quirky nature or method of attack. Fighting these just felt like work. Disappointedly I reached down into the floor digging through the steel like sand and burrowing down a level. After a second of two or digging I dropped down into the fourth floor twisting around and landing on my feet in a prison cell.

Shuffling came from behind me and I turned to see a short black-haired child of about twelve to fourteen years scramble backwards from where I just landed. He was wearing those black and white prison pants but he had no shirt on and all four of his limbs were bound with silvery chains.

"Who… are you," the boy said scrambling backwards.

"Your rescuer," I said as I reached towards the chains. He tried to shuffle backwards further but his back was against the walls and he was barely able to move as I tore off the cuffs around his hands revealing angry looking burns. A second later I did the same thing to his feet letting the boy free. "What name do you go by?"

"T-Toby," the boy stammered and I turned ramming my fist into the cell door causing it to shoot outwards. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm doing hero work," I said giving him thumbs up. "Would you like to come with me? I'm going after the director of this institute."

"Uh," the boy hesitated. "I might just wait here." His words were immediately interrupted by the sounds of a rumbling coming in the distance. "Maybe I'll just stick with you."

"Cool," I said as I strolled out of the cell. The rumbling of monsters in the distance was slowly approaching and so I snapped my fingers firing out a spool of red strings that quickly formed into what looked like a laser grid. If anything below demon in rank were to touch a single one of the Life Fibers they would be stabbed through and drained of all their energy. I then turned and headed the opposite way towards the site director's office.

Even if I hadn't already looked at the map it was likely that I would have been able to find the office. I could practically sense the ominousness radiating out from the office ahead of me. It looked like the office in which the Legion of Doom would sit and plan to murder Superman or something. Next to me Toby gulped in apprehension and I gave him a reassuring look. I stopped at the door before I picked up the phone one last time.

"I'll pick up a new phone at the Hero Association later," I said to the unresponsive inventor before I crushed the device into shrapnel. I discarded the twisted and shattered mess behind me as I kicked the door open sending it flying off its hinges and into the floor of the room.

"Welcome foolish guest," a cackling voice greeted me. Sitting behind a massive desk was a wooden marionette with an iron mask that was half black and half white bearing a frozen look of glee on its face. It was dressed in a labcoat that was stained with bright and cheerful colours. To my unartistic eye it looked like a mix between a scientist and a clown and yet it was the first proper Mysterious Being I had seen since I had arrived.

"You must be the inmate running the asylum," I said dryly taking a look at the other occupants of the room. On either side of him were two large goat headed creatures with a human body from the chest down dressed in well-kept rags and carrying massive steel axes. The other crew were a motley fusion of humans and animals; chimeras of the ugliest sloppiest design possible.

"Yup, yup, yup, that correctaroo," the clown scientist said as his fixed mask shifted to show a laughing position. "Before I achieved my enlightenment I was just the head director of this institute and I laboured never realising I was as much a prisoner as the rest of my friends here," he pointed gesturing to the two hulking beasts next to him as his mask morphed to a crying image. "Day-in and day-out checking and checking and doing science to try and control the Mysterious Beings. Failure upon failure led me to the deepest depths of despair and it was there that I came across the truth that I had been so blind as not to see. These monsters are our superiors. They are freer, better versions of us that have abandoned the weakness of conformity and now live unrestricted by the society of the weak." The mask switched to a winking portrait. "After all my work I figured out that I was the one trapped while they, even in chains were unrestricted." He burst out laughing; a deep cackling that reverberated throughout the large office.

"You're mad," Toby said under his breath. But his words were picked up by everybody in the room.

"I wouldn't go with mad," the director said as if chewing over the words. "Unrestricted would be a better word. Chin up Toby, you already has a start on the rest of us. Just abandon your state of mind and allow yourself to go wild. If you don't then you will spend your entire life dancing like a puppet on a string." As he said those words he snapped his fingers causing the chimeric abominations to dance in an awkward shuffle.

"I would give your motivational speech a six out of ten at best," I said chuckling. "That's actually quite the compliment considering I've heard a lot of them. Maybe it speaks to the general lack of control that you Mysterious Beings exhibit but you never seem to be able to keep your words down to a reasonable number."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the clown said placing his hands on his mask in a mock shock expression. "I was so excited to share my realisations that I didn't give you a chance to speak."

"Its fine," I said smiling as I walked up the desk before pulling out a chair and sitting down. "Listening to my opponents motivations is probably the greatest joy I take out of my job. It's always nice to see people taking joy in their work."

"I know right," the monster said leaning forward in the manner of a gossipy housewife. "I don't think I've ever seen a monster that isn't having fun. It's not like these humans with their depression, mortgages and car loans."

"It all comes down to a focus on purpose," I admitted my hypothesis. "Humans are naturally creatures adrift in an uncaring universe trying to find some purpose to keep them afloat but every Mysterious Being that I've met has a purpose that they're normally in the process of trying to fulfil; often rather bombastically."

"Now you're getting it," the scientist-clown-puppet said raising his arms in apparent joy. "So whaddya say? Want to become a Mysterious Being?"

"Nah," I said leaning back into my chair. "I already provide a very important milestone in every monster's story. To be specific I provide the last one. If I wasn't there then who would provide a satisfying ending to their saga."

"I wouldn't call death a satisfying ending," the puppet clown said somewhat darkly.

"Every story ends with a death," I said flippantly with the experience of somebody who really knew what they were talking about. "Just because they might not show it in the epilogue doesn't mean that the characters don't end up in the ground shortly afterwards."

"And what about your companion," the puppet cackled. "Are you also going to put him into the ground?"

"Don't…" Toby said walking forward only to jump backwards as the chimeras shifted towards him.

"Do you know your little buddy is also a monster," the director said.

"A werewolf right," I said watching the two of them fall into silence. "The silver chains gave it away. I'd never met one of them before today. It was quite an experience."

"You knew," the said werewolf said quietly.

"I guessed," I said. "I knew that there were vampires around so there must have been werewolves too. I've kept my eyes open for a while and today it paid off."

"So then what are you going to do," the puppet said leaning forward in interest.

"Are you even asking that," I said, feeling that this was a bit clichéd. "I'm going to rescue him from this facility; I'm a hero remember. I even have a business card."

"And the fact that…" the young werewolf started.

"I'm just going to stop you right there," I said. "A monster is somebody who opposes humanity in some form; generally due to murder, mass destruction or some other method. I don't just kill people because they're born a different species. That's just racist."

"Hahahaha," the puppet laughed and its mouth morphed to a toothy grin. "Are you sure you don't want to become a monster. From what I've seen you're mostly there."

"Nah," I said smiling as we got to the inevitable outcome. The next second I pushed off the desk sliding backwards as an axe cut deeply into the floor. The next second tentacles from those chimeric beasts launched towards me in an attempt to wrap themselves around my body but I simply grabbed onto the tentacles with my two hands and swung the squid-human-gorilla chimera around like a flail that I managed to use to crush two more of the chimeras before the tentacles snapped allowing the bleeding mess to collapse boneless to the floor.

The remaining chimeras swarmed towards me in a futile attempt to lock down my movement as one of the goat headed monsters launched his axe towards me. I immediately countered the axe with one of my knives and with the other I weaved a storm of destruction chopping down half-a-dozen wolf level creatures in a second causing skin to shred and guts to collapse to the floor. With my last cut I stowed the knife before grabbing onto the axe and lifting myself up and onto the shaft of the axe with my now free hand.

The goat-man immediately took one of his hands off of the axe before throwing a punch towards me that I swayed to avoid before leaping forward over the head while reaching back and grasping onto the horns. In the next second the creature went flying towards the puppet director who sent the goat flying into the wall with a flick of its fingers. The other goat didn't even pause as it rushed towards me slashing sideways with the axe. I casually leapt upwards spring boarding off the axe and over its head before throwing a **Spin** punch towards its head. Its neck snapped before its skull crunched and I landed on the ground again facing against the marionette.

I was just about to step forward when my instincts kicked in and I stepped quickly to the side as a grey furred fist slammed into my previous position. I was momentarily stunned as two metres wolf-man lashed out at me again with dagger-like claws that missed my body by a scant few centimetres.

"I see," I said more to myself than anybody else as I saw his clouded eyes. "I forgot he could control minds." The young werewolf clearly had no form of consciousness remaining and I was about to just go and knock him out when I was forced backwards as a dozen strings lashed the space I was standing with a whip-like crack. The werewolf took advantage of this motion with pinpoint precision launching up like a missile towards me and I stepped off a platform in the air to avoid it while charging towards the director. Surprisingly enough the puppet didn't cower as I approached; instead throwing forward a fist. I met force with force and flesh met wood with a cracking sound. Surprisingly enough his fist didn't shatter with the impact and while I was applying nowhere near my full power it still should have given trouble to any average demon class creature. Discreetly I looked into the beings status and found myself reluctantly impressed.

**The Institute Director**

**Scientist Puppet Master**

**Species – Monster (Unusual Type)**

**Health- 3 842 126/4 068 022**

**Mana – 0/0 **

**STR – 186 145**

**VIT – 811 300**

**DEX – 741 778**

**INT – 984 531 **

**WIS – 71 456**

**LUK – 5 999**

**Martial Arts Style: None**

That brief moment of recoil caused my momentum to stall and I had to turn backwards blocking a set of canine claws that raked impressively into my skin. I casually looked at the former prisoner's status before I did a double-take almost taking a punch to the face as a consequence.

**Toby (Mind Controlled)**

**The Last Werewolf?**

**Species – Monster (Natural Type)**

**Health- 845 314/1 245 347**

**Mana – 0/0 **

**STR – 154 989**

**VIT – 556 879**

**DEX – 787 120**

**INT – 4 568**

**WIS – 6 814**

**LUK – N/A**

**Martial Arts Style: Brawling**

'How shitty must your life be for luck to be non-applicable,' I wondered before I stepped backwards out of range of his claws. I immediately backflipped over a bunch of strings that tried to wrap around me before I slashed them to pieces with my knife, or at least attempted to. Despite sharpening my knife regularly they were just not able to cut through these strings naturally and I resolved to get a sharper knife in future. As a fix right now I summoned **Shun Shun Rika** around my knives causing them to glow bright orange and slashed down into the mess of strings easily causing them to fall to pieces around me.

Toby never relented in his attacks and I realised with some interest that he was healing surprisingly enough. As impressive as it was supposedly it was a massive pain in the ass to deal with and so I retreated firmly to the ground before dodging his lunge and stabbing Life Fibers into his body. They could operate autonomously in the short term and they did so to great effect burrowing into his body and restraining his muscles. Unless he was ten time stronger he would not be able to get out of that; but dammit if he didn't try. I kept my eye on the werewolf as I walked towards the puppet director who was the cause of all of these problems.

"I can't seem to get into your mind," the puppet director said as he raised his hand in a 'woe is me' gesture. "I guess that my willpower doesn't exceed your own."

"Sometimes I can't even get inside my head," I replied. "It's nothing shameful. Will the werewolf go back to normal once I defeat you?"

"How should I know," the director said as his mask morphed into a laughing face. "I've never been defeated before; but I should guess so." He stood up from his desk and for the first time I realised that he was only five feet tall. "You know you might have converted me earlier to your way of thinking; just a bit. You were right in that every story should end with a death." As he said that he lunged forward and his wooden body expanded to over eight feet high he lashed out with a single devastating punch and I was able to see the joy reflected in his mask. His expression reflected the immense sense of rightness as he carried out his purpose and his peace as to his true nature.

A second later he crumpled to the ground without a head. I stood over him flicking the splinters out of my hand as I reapplied my **Power Sealing**. I had sunk vast durations of practice lately on properly controlling my energy, being able to release and supress it at a moment's notice. Without proper control it would be fatally dangerous to try and obtain more power. It had always bugged me in some unnamed anime how world destroying lasers could be thrown about with the only collateral being a few destroyed patches of wilderness as if two beams that could destroy the entire solar system could clash and then cancel themselves out as if a magician stole away all the excess energy and thermal blooming didn't exist.

"I will remember you," I said to the corpse of my foe. Next to me was hurriedly taking notes in a burst of motion as it examined the fallen enemy. "How are you doing," I said to the werewolf who had currently ceased struggling and was slowly returning to human form.

"Better," the young boy said sheepishly and I nodded before summoning the Life Fibers back into my body. Actually that reminded me that I needed to go and retrieve the other Life Fibers and then I needed to go and rescue those other two employees. Then I needed to see if I could find any other survivors. After that I would need to go and clear out the rest of the rejects of this facility, and then I would have to fight off the clean-up squads sent by the pricks running this operation in the first place. Then I would have to go and take care of those scumbags. Lastly I would have to get a new phone and have a word with Metal Knight.

I looked towards my werewolf companion noting that while his stats were lower they were still at the rank of a demon and I mulled over an idea that was probably bad. Still most of human society was built on ideas that were probably bad.

"Hey kid," I said turning towards my new employee. "Would you like a job?" I thought about it for a moment before I added as an afterthought. "By the way how's your cooking?"

**Brief Omake**

**The start of the fight from King's perspective**

'Can Tatsumaki read minds,' I wondered as I saw the diminutive esper join me on the battlefield. I really didn't want her to ruin my sense of mystery. Besides if she knew that I came from a planet in which this world was fiction it would totally ruin the mood. Since I've arrived here I treated this world seriously taking it as reality and placing all my chips on the table. I have thoroughly gone all in with regards to the society and I didn't want to ruin my immersion.

Thus I really didn't want the esper peering into my brain if I could help it. Thankfully I had thought of one sure fire way to figure out if she could read minds, but this could go pretty poorly if that was the case.

'There is no evidence I can find that indicates that Tatsumaki wears anything beneath her dress,' I thought loudly and clearly and immediately held my breath. Long seconds passed with no reaction on her face before I managed to breathe again normally. Even compared to a few minutes later when I was being buried beneath a mountain that was still the most intense part of the fight.

**Author Note: Please, tell me if you find any errors in this chapter or things you just find weird. I've done very little rereading. Also can anybody hazard a guess what 's power is.**

**Lastly two different people said they would be back when this story reaches the twentieth chapter and I'm afraid I've only got one response to that. Hahahahahahaha. Man on man. I planned to end this story in ten, twelve tops. If I've run to twenty then once more I have gone seriously over my projections but then I suppose it wouldn't be the first time. **


	5. Chapter 5

The weak rays of the sun battered helplessly against the streets of Y-City dispersing small amounts of warmth from the partially clouded sky while a mild wind stole that warmth right away. In most aspects this day could be considered a usual day in the busy streets of Y-City with the exception of one single small difference. A small restaurant with varnished wooden walls had opened its screen doors wide open revealing a packed interior from which sounds of talking and eating emitted. Just outside the doors stretched a line over a dozen metres long and yet kept forcibly short by greeters who restricted its length. A combination of delicious smells wafted around the area drawing the eyes and nose of every passerby who looked wistfully into the dining room.

Inside the dining area was just as busy as black dressed waiters dashed from table to table taking orders and returning food of all sorts. Every single dish was ordered in a masterful way giving off delightful smells that enraptured the apertures causing those who didn't have food in front of them to stare wistfully at those who did. The inside of the room was just a fraction of a degree below comfortable but this was offset by the warm lamps scattered around as well as the heated dishes. The theme for this food today seemed to lean heavily towards various cuts of beef with each dish containing a portion of what once was a cow.

Standing at the payment table was a black haired young boy who was dressed in a black and white suit he didn't look entirely comfortable in. Despite his awkwardness he earnestly attempted to make conversation with each guest and it seemed that more than a few found him charming as they often lingered to speak more to him. He just smiled and wished another batch of guest's farewell before he turned around and stepped back into a wooden door that separated the kitchen from the rest of the restaurant.

The cooking area of the restaurant couldn't be more different from the overall aesthetic. Outside the seating area consisted of finely made wooden furniture and decorations in which the prime jewel was artwork with various interesting scenes and paraphernalia collected over a lifetime of fighting monsters that caught the eye and enraptured the imagination. Inside the kitchen there was nothing but steel and metal that gleamed coldly, impossibly clean compared to any other restaurant. Appliances lined up against the wall, each fulfilling their objective.

The sole inhabitant of the kitchen was a blur that moved up and down the length of the expansive kitchen causing items to disappear and reappear as if the whole situation was captured in a time-lapse video. In seconds food was diced, arranged and plated; dishes were washed dried and replaced for the next meal and Toby watched in amazement as his employer moved at speeds exceeding even his eyes.

"Hello, Toby," I said as I sensed my young assistant walk in the door. "How are the customers looking? Have there been any complaints about the food?"

"There hasn't been any Mister King," Toby said. "Everybody looks satisfied and excited. I'm sure this is going to be another five star restaurant day."

"I hope so Toby," I said as I sprinkled a few spices into the sauce before starting to stir. "I've recently acquired a few portions of excellent quality beef and I would be mortified if I messed them up. You can't even buy any more from that herd," I said as I took a second to wink at Tony. "They've all been sold out."

"So when are you opening up for the next day," Tony asked and I waved him off while swiftly doing the dishes.

"There's still five more hours before the restaurant closes," I said as I put the final touches on a crème caramel. "I think I'll look into doing something fish next time. Not this week but maybe the next though."

"I guess it is kind of impressive to be so good at cooking and still lose money," Toby said in a voice that surprisingly sincere. "We hitting just below even for this day. If we just upped the tickets by just a bit…"

"Then people wouldn't be able to come and eat," I said smilingly as I picked up an armful of plates and placed them on the dispatching area. "None of the right people anyway," I continued putting on a faux-posh accent. "This store was never more than an occasional hobby anyway. If you try to get money out of your hobbies then it just becomes work."

"I will endeavour to remember that Sir," Toby said. "But we could just work a few days more and stop changing the menu every time you open or at least accept more of those high profile catering jobs."

"I'm afraid not," I said. Surprisingly Toby was fare more attached to the restaurant than I was, well on the days that it opened at least. The standard procedure that I operated was to announce a day of opening and a theme and then hire out temporary waiters while I operated the kitchen and leaved the bookings and payments to Toby.

"At least you have been working more in the restaurant these last weeks," Toby said as he picked up a few of the plates and placed them in the despatching area and signalling to the waiters to come and pick them up. "Normally you spend much more time training. Are you finally realising you're more than strong enough."

"No. It's because I've brushing against my limit," I said truthfully looking at my status once more.

**King **

**The Gamer**

**Title - None**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 24 999 999/24 999 999 **

**Mana – 24 999 999/24 999 999 **

**Level – 9 999 EXP 9999999999/9999999999**

**STR – 9 999 999**

**VIT – 9 999 999**

**DEX – 9 999 999**

**INT – 8 868 453**

**WIS – 9 023 454**

**LUK – 8 777 563**

**Points -0**

**Money 789 456 711¥**

Intelligence, wisdom and luck were the only stats that still I was still working to max out and then I would have no further path for improvement. Even my stats were misleading as I could fight those rare few with higher stats such as Blast and Tatsumaki by relying on my Outsider abilities; literal reality altering abilities that didn't belong in this world. Not a single one of my Outsider powers were weak however and **Life Fibers** and **Gourmet Cells** were in fact were planet killers in their own series while **Shun Shun Rika** was akin to baby's first reality warping and **Spin** was a possible gateway to infinite energy.

I was already in the process of trying to increase my mastery over my **Gourmet Cells** and **Spin** and combine them to achieve my next power up. It was about the only process of my training that was making any strides at the current time. I sighed as I continued to cook up a few more dishes that were conveyed to me but I felt my enthusiasm waning all the while as I thought back to my dilemma. There were very few people in the world that could challenge me anyway which made improving an absolute hellacious endeavour. Even my dungeons difficulty had capped and there were no more true challenges.

Dungeons were miniature dimensions after all and only the most energy rich could form and maintain proper opponents. The majority of dungeons created nowadays could be passed by fourteen year old me. It was the greatest disappointment of my year when I had fought a copy of Sun Wukong before both dimension had him collapsed due to lack of energy. Thankfully I had a good reading off of him by that point, because there was only one way these days that I can face a truly good challenge.

Well two, I suppose. At this point it was one and a half years before canon and Saitama's progress was coming along nicely. Not that I had closely observed of course. My goal was to surpass him at only after he had lost his hair and attained ultimate power. If I were to do it now then it would be kind of cheap. I wasn't ready for all my efforts to be rendered pointless anyway.

Just as I turned back I heard a lot of screaming and the sound of shattering glass coming from somewhere outside the restaurant. Toby heard it as well, his werewolf hearing far superior to that of any normal human. Slipping off my apron and chucking it onto the nearby counter I strode out of the restaurant towards the front door noticing as I did that people were running inside my restaurant and huddling against the far side of the room. I gave a reassuring smile as I did so and was 'rewarded' by a round of cheering as looks of relief seemed to manifest on the dozens of humans that saw me.

As I stepped through the door I was confronted by a Mysterious Being about three dozen stories tall, although this looked less like a monster and more like a walking building. One thousand two hundred and twenty-six hands emerged from various windows doors and other apertures and I whistled at the amusing sight before me. From each of the windows a collection of what looked to be like moving food flew out from the windows and I was vaguely reminded of that movie from… Dreamworks? I can't really remember the producer; it didn't really leave an impact. Still they were attacking nearby humans and so I only took a quick look at the status before I decided to remove them.

**Tomarrow**

**Former Three Star Chef**

**Title: Former Greatest Chef in Y-City**

**Species – Monster**

**Health- 2 100 000/2 100 000 **

**Mana – 0/0 **

**STR – 458 693**

**VIT – 692 103**

**DEX – 21 360 **

**INT – 28 698**

**WIS – 423 **

**LUK – 1 2003**

**Special Ability: One Knife One Fork Culinary**

"**Red Miles," **I said stating the name of my newest attack; a reference nobody was ever going to get in this world or the previous. As I spoke thousands of red strings emerged from my right hand. The original aim of **Life Fibers** was to eat the biological energy of other beings and they didn't skimp as lines of red shot into the sky before splitting and dividing targeting each and every meal and devouring them within seconds causing their drained corpses to fall from the sky.

"KKKKKIIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGGGGGG!" the massive building sized monster screamed my name and I watched as its hands extended before the lashed down towards me with force that I easily deflected leaving not one piece of the road damaged. For a brief moment I sensed human life within the building begin to panic and my expression hardened before I deliberately relaxed.

"That is my name," I said casually. "I'm going to take a guess and say you're not the guy who is bringing my package at 4. I don't know where that guy is?" I shook my head with the resignation of a guy who had picked the wrong courier company.

"You took everything from me King!" the walking building said as he didn't relent in his futile attacks. More and more punches landed which I easily blocked before I threw one of my own punches, infusing **Spin** and causing over half of the arms to be shredded in an instant. More and more of those flying meals emerged from their windows but they were immediately shot down by the camping **Life Fibers**.

"This must just be a misunderstanding," I said calmly as I raised my hands in an accommodating gesture. "Why don't you come inside and have the best chef in Y-City cook you a meal?" He lost it at that and I held in my chuckles as his attacks became more and more fierce. The crowd beguns scattering and panicking when he started his assault, but after twenty seconds of attacks and not a single injury they returned and resumed cheering all the louder.

"Easy, easy," I said to the low Demon level monster. "Why don't we settle this like chefs instead of hero and monster? I challenge you to a cook-off?" I said smiling watching as the monster froze and the crowds went silent. Sure I could defeat the Mysterious Being in one blow but there were civilians still inside the building that I would have to rescue meaning that I would have to rescue them as I defeated him. The whole process felt a bit stressful and wasn't very fun anyway and so I decided to just beat him in a cook off while I waited for my planned reinforcements.

"You think you are a better chef than me KKKIINNG!" the guy said. "I will prove to you that you are nothing compared to Tomarrow! I, the head chef of the One Knife Three Plate restaurant will mete doom unto you KKKIIIINNGG!"

"Get my secret stash," I said turning towards my assistant ignoring the overly large ham before me. Toby had swiftly dressed in the battle uniform I had provided for him; a dark green greatcoat with lighter green pants and a WW2 officers cap. The entire suit was constructed from dead Life Fibers giving it a durability surpassing any modern substance. My assistant Toby nodded somewhat obediently before he immediately dashed into the restaurant at speeds that were a blur to the normal human eye and I turned back towards my 'opponent'.

"How do you want to do this," I said to him before changing my mind. "Do we have any food critics in the audience?" I asked and received a smattering of raised hands. "Quite a lot of you," I said knowing full well the reason they were here. "But it doesn't matter, the more the merrier."

"The rules of the competition?" I asked the Mysterious Being allowing the soon to be dead to have all the advantages he desired. A quick comparison of our cooking skills placed mine at 273 levels above his and my **Gourmet Cells** augmented my cooking skills further by allowing me to use the various techniques from the originating manga. Unfortunately for him this wouldn't be a competition.

"We shall compete in traditional Y-City dishes," the chef said immediately and I nodded in acceptance. I tended to cook whatever I felt like when I felt like it and thus had no specific preference. Y-City traditional cuisine was nearly analogous to Spanish food back on Earth and it was definitely among one of the tastiest.

"Alright, then," I said cracking my knuckles. "We have fifteen judges, a starter, main course and dessert. Do you need any ingredients or are have you made sufficient preparations.

"I need no further assistance," the monster said and for the first time since he had spoken he sounded calm but determined. Immediately from the door what seemed to be a whole kitchen was produced in seconds and I clapped twice at seeing such a sparkling display of cleanliness. At the same time I saw Toby return with trolleys full of potential ingredients and he had even grabbed some of my more transportable cooking implements. I gave a quick look at the ingredients that he had grabbed and gave and approving nod.

"Get me the special smoked ham," I said seeing Toby's doubtful look. "I'll use it as an accent for a Croquetas main. Trust me it will work out well. Also get me the fifth wine on the third shelf in the chilled room. I've been looking for an opportunity to use it. Also get me the good chocolate in the fourth cupboard," I said really getting into this as I saw Toby pull out a notepad and dutifully take down my instructions before dashing inside once more at eye watering speeds. I was basically having a Shokugeki from that popular show that I never finished. This would truly be a legendary battle between the two of us.

xxx

**Two hours later**

"I remember why I never finished Food Wars now," I said below my breath having finished up my last dish and presented it to the judges. I couldn't stand competitive cooking. I find the evaluation of such subjective things as actual food to be difficult and the fetishized ideal of the perfect food to be annoying. It might be surprising considering the fact that I had **Cooking LV 999** and **Gourmet Cells** but I actually wasn't fazed that much with what I ate, my whole restaurant career amounted to a secondary hobby propped up by an absurdly powerful system and a lack of needed sleep on my part.

I watched idly as the thousands of hands started shuffling in clear signs of nervousness magnified by my opponent's size and my own sharp eyesight. The dozen or so food critics were all full of praise for the well-made food and I had to admit that he was a good opponent that I really didn't care that much about. It was my turn to serve my food and I did so without a word placing plates in front of the various judges. There were no surprises and from the moment that the first bite was taken the results were obvious. Looks of awe, amazement, delight and even one or tears were displayed from the starter all the way to the dessert and I felt a stab of pity for my opponent. This was a crown that I had no interest in wearing and it spoke somewhat to the unfairness of life that I was able to use the **Gamer System** in order to idly surpass his life's achievement.

Suddenly hands darted out snatching several of the dishes from the table and dragging them inside the windows of the building causing several of the food critics to scamper back in surprise or fear. About ten seconds after the food disappeared into the building the entire multiple story building began to shake accompanied by screams of the various civilians still inside it. At that point in time a horrific scream emanated from the building and I couldn't help but envisage that this would be the reaction if a zealot ascended to the afterlife and then subsequently realised that their deity despised them. Undoubtedly in the mind of Tomarrow the very concept of cooking had betrayed him leaving him with nothing. After a moment of trembling he started to break apart causing concrete and steel to rain down. If this continued then it would be undoubtedly dangerous for both those on the inside and the outside as the building continued to disintegrate.

Thankfully it would not as a pale green light invisible to everybody but me shone over every single piece of rubble and the building was torn apart with expert precision like peeling an orange and revealing the unharmed hostages floating in the sky untouched by the chaos around them. In the next second they drifted harmlessly to the ground shaken but unharmed and I turned my head towards the storm of psychic energy that was making its presence known above me.

"This is the last time that I accept a meal from you," the Tornado of Terror said as she descended until she was hovering a few feet above the ground in front of me. "Tell me King, did you foresee this and just invite me over to do the dirty work."

"It was a mere coincidence that I took advantage of," I said truthfully and the petite girl nodded unhappily but accepting. I looked at the various streets that had taken a lot of damage and the various crowds. "Toby, please try and find those who had their meals prematurely ended and provide them with a coupon for a reserved free dish at the next opening."

"Looks like we are going to be in the red again Mister King," Toby said sighing with resignation before he walked inside to begin the arduous process of checking the schedule and working out who had eaten or who were still waiting to be served. I watched him go before I jumped up to the nearest high rooftop with the shorter esper easily matching my movement.

"The mutt seems healthy," Tatsumaki said offhandedly. Surprisingly enough after hearing Toby's story the Strongest Esper had taken a shine to the young werewolf. While it wasn't immediately obvious, she had repeatedly encouraged him to get stronger and even offered to give him some training; a proposition which was super generous from the normally anti-social esper.

"Yeah, he's doing great," I said. "I would rate him at high Tiger or low Demon-Class at the moment. To put it in hero terms I would place him somewhere in A-Class."

"Not S, yet?" Tatsumaki said with some disappointment. "How is he compared to the prisoner?"

"Maybe a bit weaker or stronger," I said. "You know I don't really go to any of the meetings. I haven't even seen half of the S-Class yet."

"You should attend," Tatsumaki said idly. "Darkshine wanted to challenge you to a fight last time. You should put him in his place."

"From what I have heard of the person he is a rather respectable hero," I stated. "I believe his place is right where he currently sits however I would be perfectly glad to spar with him when I have time on my schedule."

"Well then come next time and do that," Tatsumaki said irritably. "Most of the S-Class heroes are not worth much in the first place. It would be good to sit on a meeting with somebody who is actually strong."

"Or your standards are just too high," I said chuckling and received an unimpressed look. "Our standards are too high," I corrected. "Do you think I should send Toby to the Hero Association to get him a Hero Licence?"

"Sending a monster to the Hero Association," Tatsumaki said sarcastically. "I cannot see a way that could possibly go wrong."

"He's not classified as a monster if he does not pose a threat to society," I said frankly. "Maybe I should send him to Sweet Mask to get evaluated. If the man thinks that he can go to S-Class then he'll put him there."

"How would that incompetent fool help," Tatsumaki said distastefully. "I've never understood why you have respect for him."

"He has an interesting story," I said eliciting a groan from the petite girl. "Besides he's quite friendly to me. Apparently I saved him once when I was younger and he has his finger on the pulse of the Hero Association like nobody else."

"But he will turn the puppy into a show dog rather than actually teaching him how to be strong," Tatsumaki rebutted and I hummed in thought. "Why are we talking so much anyway? You promised me a meal and you still haven't delivered."

"I have a full pantry at the moment," I said in agreement before I pulled out my phone and sent a quick message to Toby instructing him to lock up once he was done and take the rest of the day off. In all honesty it probably wasn't much of a benefit considering how long it would likely take him to lock up but it was better than nothing. Besides Toby's apartment was much closer to the restaurant than my house and it was possible that he would just take the work home or do it next time he came early.

"So what do you want to eat?" I asked as we both headed towards my house. "What about some F-City food?" Tatsumaki said. "I could so with some Cassoulet."

"I can do that," I said mentally rummaging through my cupboards and working out how I could make that. "I suppose that means I can get out some of my Cha…" I stopped at that point but not quick enough for Tatsumaki not to look at me.

"Yes I suppose some Champagne would be appropriate," Tatsumaki said frostily. "Why don't you think it would?"

"You get drunk at the drop of a hat," I said flatly. "And you do the stupidest stuff while drunk."

"Name one ti…" Tatsumaki started and then stopped at the almost certain loss she was barrelling towards. "We're drinking and that is that," she said firmly.

"As her majesty commands," I replied sardonically. "I suppose my house has lived long enough."

xxx

**The Following Morning**

There is a tremendous amount of guilt I feel when I wake up without a hangover. My regeneration prevents me from suffering the consequences of my actions and in fact if it wasn't for some very special wine sourced straight from the Abandoned World and downright lethal to anybody not named King or Zombieman (or likely Saitama) I wouldn't be able to get drunk at all. Still the sheer stark lucidity was oftentimes worse than the drunkenness and I found myself fumbling for reference as to just how I ended up here, namely in a futon in the lounge. 'I definitely worked my socks off in order to prepare the best in F-City cuisine for my dinner-mate,' I thought as I stood up and then I realised I may have worked off more than my socks.

I was the sort of person who would go to bed in full length striped pyjamas and so I was quite surprised to find myself wearing absolutely nothing but a pair of rather tight briefs. I'm not even sure that I wore these were the ones I wore yesterday. Well I'm pretty sure at this point that I am completely out of Grote Slang Beer and perhaps it was for the best considering it knocked me the fuck out. I displaced the rest of the blankets and stood up on my feet feeling the chill of winter that I mostly shrugged off. 'This was the perfect time for coffee,' I thought as I walked towards my kitchen, only to pause as the door to my bedroom opened and Tatsumaki stepped out wearing a sleepy look and nothing else.

There was a long moment of silence as the two of us looked at each other and I reaffirmed that despite her shortness Tatsumaki was only a year younger than me, this body at least. If we go by most of the anime I watched this was the time when Tatsumaki would attack me and I waited to see her reaction to this whole thing.

"Coffee," she said blearily crossing her arms in front of her in a motion that emphasised certain areas and I came to the realisation that 'oh right, we're not stupid fucking overly-hormonal teenagers.'

"In the kitchen, third urn on the right, right above the kettle, milk is in the fridge, second shelf," I said idly and was 'rewarded' by Tatsumaki turning around and showing me a different side of her. "Do you have any idea what happened last night," I said genuinely interested. It sounded like it was quite a story and I sat back down on the couch.

"I think I lost a bet," Tatsumaki said yawning as she entered the kitchen and left my line of sight. "Or you lost a bet. We might have both lost a bet."

"That must have been quite a bet," I remarked. "Do you have any idea where your dress is?"

"I was going to ask you that," Tatsumaki said as she walked into the living room carrying a mug of piping hot coffee and still dressed for her birthday. "What did you give me to drink last night," she said.

"I would have to take inventory to find out," I said. "What do you think the bet was about?"

"I think it was a contest to see who could drink the most," Tatsumaki said as she sat down about a foot away from me and I decide apropos of nothing to cross my legs. That did sound vaguely familiar, in which case…

"You won," I stated. "If you can still remember that than regardless of who was the last one standing you were the winner."

"Okay," Tatsumaki said slowly. "That makes a bit of sense. Does that mean I get to dictate the terms of my victory," she said leaning closer to me. "What if I asked for those briefs as my reward?"

"I would say they would look terrible on you," I said causing the S-Class hero to snicker semi-maliciously. "But…"

"I think I'll save that victory reward for a later date," she said standing up from the couch. "I should get going for now. I will see you at the headquarters."

"Do you need some of my clothes or a shirt or something," I said gesturing towards her state of undress. While she seemed mostly indifferent to the show she was giving me I doubt she wanted to play nude model for the rest of Y-City.

"And leave this house looking like a cheating spouse," Tatsumaki scoffed before she smiled giving me a look of triumph. "Goodbye King," she said as psychic energy imploded around her shrinking in size but with the energy building up to a terrible climax and in the next second Tatsumaki was gone.

"Oh holy shit, she did it. " I said to myself. I had mentioned that teleportation was a psychic power a while ago but I didn't think she would be able to figure it out so quickly. "Hey she took my mug," was the second thing I said.

"I really need a cold shower," were my last words. Those words weren't strictly true however. **Gamers Mind** was a tended to place a hard limiter on any excess emotions.

xxx

**One year and six months before canon**

"One often meets their destiny on the road they take to avoid it," I mused to myself. Of course I didn't believe it. The concept of destiny was nonsense when applied to anything outside of narrative confines. While I appreciated the dramatic irony of a self-fulfilling prophecy I didn't believe in them. Life is a series of coincidences that hides itself well enough that any realisation into to its true nature is immediately thought of as fate or destiny; the so-called magic thinking that plagues a lot of people, mainly fans of sport. I've tended to think about this more as my luck finally passed nine million and I gained a better idea of the esoteric forces that govern our modern life.

Still though it does say a lot that in the one time in the last five years that I come to Z-City this would happen I thought as I looked down at a massive insectile creature with a hole in it. Just looking at the blow I found myself a bit impressed. Sure I could do this but I would normally slice through it with my **Life Fibers** if it was large or just decapitate it with a punch if it was small. The precision in this blow and the ability to concentrate nearly all of that force without damaging the surroundings was amazing and I started to work out if I could do the same. The closest thing to that would be **The Strength of Insects** when I still had it. If I could redirect the vectors of my attacks as I performed them then…

I was taken out of my musing as cheering started to resound from around me in a fairly predictable manner and I felt my annoyance spike as my stupid self didn't leave fast enough to avoid the accusations of competence. More and more people came onto the street cheering and while I would tiredly accept the praise if I had killed it I refused to accept credit for something I didn't perform.

"I did not kill that monster," I said with a raised voice the instantly quieted down the cheers. "I am going to go find out who did." A few more cheers sprang up but there was an air of worry. Needless to say people were wondering if it was another monster that had killed this creature which translated as an instinct to return to the shelter or homes. "Don't panic," I said. "I'm sure that whoever killed this being was friendly and I am here regardless. Just continue to go about your day."

That was about as much reassurance as I could stomach and so I moved at speeds that would be considered a blur, teasing past the sound barrier without quite breaking it and ascending into the sky. The many **Life Fibers** that I possessed sprouted from my body changing my clothes in less than a second and I dropped down to a street in front of a convenience store. By my vague remembrances enhanced by my very nearly nine million intelligence this should be right before right before Saitama lost his hair and so I calmly drew a cap to cover my blonde hair while I stood waiting.

After about ten minutes of waiting the person who had been the focus of my existence for nearly twenty-seven years arrived and I froze before I shook off the momentary shock and anticipation and took full advantage of the double-edged sword of **Gamers Mind** to calm myself down while I approached the currently black haired young man in a blue tracksuit.

"Would you like to get a meal with me," I said calmly as I approached the younger Saitama. For some reason my **Observe** simply refused to work on him at all.

"Ah, I'm sorry I don't like guys," he said almost immediately and I mentally readjusted my previous sentence before continuing.

"That's okay. I don't really like guys either," I said. "However I do enjoy killing monsters and from my observation that is something we have in common. Come on, I believe there is a good yakisoba place around here somewhere. I will pay."

Apparently that was enough to convince him to follow me and the pair of us proceeded to a nearby traditional restaurant that I had looked up a few moments previously. I had always been an advocate of meal-time meetings as I feel like people can think clearer while they weren't hungry and the atmosphere tended to put people in a more relaxed state. The yakisoba place was rather quaint and almost empty considering the commotion going on nearby but there was still an old man at the counter. I walked in ordering two large plates before I sat down opposite the future strongest in the world whose status I still couldn't see.

"So you killed that insect monster," I said politely as I waited for the food to arrive. "Why didn't you stay around to deal with it afterwards thought?"

"I had to go to the toilet," Saitama replies immediately. "Besides what else is there to do once it's dead. Don't the street cleaners deal with that?"

"Unless the street cleaners have a crane I doubt it," I said. "Likely the Hero Association will claim the corpse and it will find itself owned by some wealthy person in return for cash." That was a well-kept secret of the Hero but I had long been aware of it and it didn't affect me too much. It wasn't the most objectionable thing they did in the first place. "That's not important," I said. "By leaving you got people thinking I killed it and the credit will most likely fall into my lap."

"Can't you just say you didn't do it?" Saitama said idly. He didn't seem too phased about losing the credit; his interest seemed more off-the-cuff than anything else.

"I can say anything," I replied. "What they record it as is not up to me however. How many monsters like that have you killed anyway?"

"Dozens by now probably," Saitama said giving the expression of somebody thinking back. "Ah, the yakisoba is here."

"That's rather quick," I said as I broke apart my disposable chopsticks breathing in the aroma of the dish. The smell was rich and reminded me of really good home cooking and I tucked in at the same time as the future Caped Baldy. For a long few moments we just ate and I took some time to evaluate Saitama. Right now to the best of my knowledge I was stronger than him. As to how I knew it was because of my abnormally luck stat. Instinctually I had the feeling that it would not be abnormally lucky for me to defeat him.

"So what do you recommend I do," Saitama said as he finished his bowl a few bites after me. "Should I start hanging around after every monster battle just to get my name taken down?"

"Do I look like a life advisor," I said putting my plate to one side. "Actually the majority of monsters that I've killed have gone unannounced." After all I had spent literal years in the Abandoned World. "How long have you been training for?"

"It's been almost one and a half years since I've started my routine," he said with some pride which was fully deserved. I had been training for almost twenty eight years and he was not that much weaker than me.

"I'm not sure that I want to hang around afterwards," Saitama said looking thoughtful. "It might interfere with my training if I have to stop in the middle of it. How long were you fighting before you got your first fans?"

"I was 21, and I've been training since I was born," I admitted getting a look of surprise. "I was born lucid of myself and my surrounds."

"Woah," Saitama said in clear amazement. "So you're like one of those prodigies who can repair cars when they are seven."

"I suppose I could have if I put my mind to it," I admitted. "It's not as fun as you would think though. It gives you a lot of time to ponder life."

"Oh, and did you work it out," Saitama said sounding interested.

"Not really," I admitted. "I'm a nihilist which is basically the philosophical equivalent of turning in a blank test paper; and you?"

"I want to become the strongest hero," Saitama told me what I already knew and I nodded in confirmation.

"In order to do that you will have to beat me in future," I said ordering a second helping of yakisoba for both Saitama and myself. "Are you going to register as an official hero?" I asked repeating my question from earlier.

"No," Saitama said surprising me somewhat. "I'm still training to be a hero and registration won't change that. I'll register once I'm done with my training, not before."

"I can respect that," I said taking my second plate of yakisoba and digging in. For another couple minutes the two of us ate in silence before I called for the bill and had it presented to me. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a pen and piece of paper from my inventory and quickly jotted down my cell phone number and then I thought about it and jotted down my address as well.

"Just call me if you need any help," I said. "My address is also on the paper. Feel free to drop by when you're in the neighbourhood." I didn't feel like speaking much despite the momentous occasion. This Saitama wasn't yet the Saitama that I had vowed to surpass and despite the fact that I liked him I wasn't interested in his words in the first place.

"I don't even know your name," the hero for a hobby said and I mentally reran my conversation realising that I hadn't even introduced myself yet. "I'm Saitama," he said holding out his hand, while telling me things I already knew.

"King," I said taking his hand in my own and giving it a firm shake that was easily matched. I noticed as I did so that Saitama's eyes seemed to widen in recognition and he grinned in anticipation.

"I definitely will challenge you at some time," he said with a look of anticipation that matched my own. I gave him one last salute before I placed the money on the table and turned and left the restaurant.

xxx

**Through the eyes of S-Class Rank 6**

The S-Class meetings were usually a time of not inconsequential stress for Child Emperor. While there was no formal obligation placed upon him by the organisation to behave in a certain manner it was quite hard for him to see the squabbling mess that these meetings could devolve into and not do anything. Thus he often found himself acting as one of the mediators in these meetings and he found himself thankful that they were as infrequent as they were.

Already, despite the meeting not having officially started yet, Tatsumaki had gotten into an argument with Flashy Flash and Metal Bat was complaining loudly. Thankfully Darkshine had mediated the argument and Metal Bat had quieted down. He was just about to relax when an unexpected face walked in through the door.

Of course Child Emperor had seen King before; they practically lived in the same city after all. However he had one of the widest ranges of the S-Class heroes and had taken down tens of monsters in every single city, except in the case of Z-City in which case he had only one kill. Child Emperor had watched any evidence of his fights that he could and he was filled with admiration at his nearly flawless record. Still the few shaky cameras that managed to capture small portions of the fight showed nothing but a powerful strength and swift speed; nothing exceptional by S-Class standards; nothing that gave evidence towards his seriously high Mysterious Being resolved incident count and the fame built up around him.

"Am I late," King said, his voice sounding polite yet authoritative. "My apologies there were a few documents that I had to sign." He took the seat next to me, before he leant back, crossed his arms and adopted a watchful pose.

"You've finally attended on of these meetings, huh," Tatsumaki said, her words were different from usual, containing no instance of her usual condescension that she displayed to almost all the S-Class. in fact she even felt somewhat friendly. This raised all sorts of alarm bells to the youngest hero and he once more wondered what skills that the Strongest Hero held that could invoke the respect of the S-Class Rank 2.

"I should have come earlier," King admitted easily and Child Emperor breathed an internal sigh of relief as he realised that King was one of the calm ones. "I have not received an agenda for this meeting. Was one dispatched?"

"We were going to discuss allocating the S-Class to cities," Child Emperor was more than happy to share his knowledge. "The appearance of Mysterious Beings has steadily increased over the years and at this rate there will be serious damage to the human population if we don't adapt."

"That's undoubtedly true," King replied. "The greatest issue to my mind is the greater concentration of power in the latest Mysterious Beings. More and more jobs are requiring the strong A-Class or S-Class to perform which indicates a steady increase in the overall strength of monsters."

"How do you believe that should be addressed?" Child Emperor asked curiously wondering if the hero had killed so many monsters would have a solution. "Should the Hero Association step up recruitment of strong people or try to train them in house?"

"Has in house training ever worked," King asked curiously and I was forced to come up with a blank. "From my understanding almost all of the strongest were powerful before they entered the Hero Association," he said. "Besides recruitment of the strongest is pretty much the default setting. I don't think it would be possible or effective to recruit too many more S-Class that way. I think we still have a lot of give in the current situation and the current problems are mainly logistics."

"That's what I thought as well," Child Emperor said a bit too loudly and he immediately regained his composure and apologized as a few of the other S-Class turned to look at him. "How do you think we should approach that," he whispered.

"I've been contemplating building an app that would track monster occurrences and filter for heroes below a certain rank and their availability by region," King whispered and Child Emperor immediately began sifting through possible ways that the plan could be applied.

"We could track heroes by their GPS which would also allow us to have a better idea of who is closest," Child Emperor said. "That would allow us to build more comprehensive response times as well as coordinate evacuations. Have you started anything yet?"

"Coding is not my forte," King admitted. "I've altered some open use apps with similar functions but the model can be described as buggy at best and I'm having problems implementing certain functions I want to see. Right now I can link to certain emergency systems which announce the location of any monster within one hundred kilometres of me." That was an incredible range and it just showed how indifferent King was to the actual strength of the monster. It did sound a bit cocky but as the third ranked hero he had a right to be.

"Do you have a copy of your work so far?" he asked and the two of them exchanged data shooting ideas until the meeting officially begun. The responses proposed by the Hero Association were inefficient and wasteful and provoked plenty of backlash from the heroes that turned up today. In the end very little was done and Child Emperor had to hold himself back from putting forth the unfinished app as a proposed solution. It wasn't his plan to announce in the first place and it would be incredibly rude to announce plans shown in confidence.

"What did you think of that?" Tornado of Terror addressed King as the meeting ended and she stood up from her chair.

"It was a meeting about allocating various heroes to different cities," King said. "It ended without enough heroes being moved to cities. In the first place there are not enough S-Class to allocate to each city and would be reluctant to move if that was the case. The meeting failed to fulfil its aim."

"That's fair," Tatsumaki said and Child Emperor felt irritation burn him when he realised she didn't really care. "Their monitoring technology is rather well developed however. They can track Mysterious Beings as soon as they show up. I sometimes stick around there and just wait for a Demon-Level threat."

"You would kill a Demon-Level threat in an instant," King said familiarly confirming his friendship the Tornado of Terror. "What do you think about the shortage of S-Class to cover the various cities?"

"You can cover half the continent and I can cover the other half," Tatsumaki said arrogantly still only speaking to King and ignoring him sitting right next to them. "Maybe if Blast returns then we can divide it into thirds and then we can dump everybody else into A-Class."

"As arrogant as ever Tornado," Flashy Flash walked up and joined the conversation. "If you don't change then one day you are going to experience a horrific defeat and by then it will be too late to change."

"As if I needed the advice of some sword swinging wannabe ninja," Tatsumaki scoffed.

"Are you from the Ninja village," King suddenly spoke up causing Flashy Flash to immediately turn towards him.

"I am," he said, his voice a lot more polite than when he was speaking to Tatsumaki. "Not much remained of it and I got rid of the last dregs. I suppose I have you and Blast to thank for that."

"Think nothing of it," King said causing more questions to whirl within his mind. King was acquainted with Blast and what was this about the Ninja Village. "Congratulations on getting rid of them."

"Thank you," he said nodding before walking away, leaving Tatsumaki behind spluttering at being ignored.

"You've met Blast," Child Emperor said trying to change the subject onto a more interesting matter.

"We both have," Tatsumaki said sharply shooting King a sidelong glare. "Only he knows where he is at the moment though."

"And I won't tell," King said. "The man has his own life." Tatsumaki scoffed at that and she looked like she was going to continue when they were approached by Superalloy Darkshine.

"Excuse me," the tall hero said speaking to King. "I don't believe we have been introduced."

"That is true, but I have heard of you," King said standing up from his chair. "Darkshine, right? I heard you wish to spar with me."

"That's correct," the hero who towered over even King said, looking quite embarrassed. "I would if it isn't too much trouble."

"No trouble at all," King said chuckling. "In fact I'm looking forward to facing off against the famous Superalloy Darkshine. Shall we go now?" The pronouncement wasn't spoken particularly loudly but all of a sudden it seemed that every single pair of eyes was on the pair. Not that Child Emperor could blame them at all. King was repeatedly seen as the Strongest Man on Earth but there was very little evidence of how he actually fought. As for Darkshine all of them had seen his fight against Bang and while he had lost ultimately his strength placed him at a level far above even most of the S-Class. Child Emperor was not ashamed to admit that he would run away immediately if he ever found himself facing against the S-Class Rank 11.

"That's perfect," King said. "Does this place have any sparring areas?"

"Sure," Darkshine said with some excitement in his voice. "My favourite is on the bottom floor. I had it booked for after the meeting. We can head there now."

"Lead the way," King replied smiling as he followed the much larger man out of the room. Child Emperor stood at the same time resolving to not let this chance to analyse their methods of fighting go to waste; and from the looks of it at least half of the S-Class followed him. Still he couldn't blame them for wanting to see two of the strongest heroes face each other down. That was why five minutes later he found himself standing in between Bang and Tatsumaki in a glass box overlooking the main sparring arena.

"Who do you think will win," he remarked offhandedly only to receive a scoff from Tatsumaki.

"King will win if he takes it seriously," she said to him with astonishing conviction. "For the first few minutes at least he will be holding back most of his power."

"Which rules do you think we should use," Darkshine said below flexing his muscles causing his entire body to ripple and bulge.

"No rules should be necessary," King said looking casual despite the situation, he had his hands placed in his pockets for the moment and he looked like he was discussing a choice of restaurant. "Neither you nor I are the sort to die easily."

"Very well then I will start if you don't mind," Darkshine said as he tensed in a ready stance.

"Take as many actions as you require," King replied back with confidence. His words were a trigger for the battle to start and Darkshine immediately jogged forward towards King, moving at speeds that belied his massive size. It was only when he reached within five metres of King the third ranked hero dodged; a slide to the right side which took him just out of reach of the charge. Simultaneously he raised his leg and lashed out with a whip-like kick that immediately shattered the sound barrier and plunged into Darkshine's side. A massive boom resounded as flesh met flesh and King was the one to come off and Darkshine staggered slightly as King went flying back a few dozen metres before landing casually on his feet; hands still in pockets.

"Is that still him holding back," Tanktop Master spoke out sounding genuinely interested.

"He will let you know when he stops holding back some of his power," Tatsumaki said not taking her eyes off the fight. "When he starts behaving dramatically is when you know that he is taking the fight seriously."

"That still didn't even sting my muscles," Darkshine said as he moved towards King once more; his casual jogging replaced by a swifter advance. "You will have to bring out your full strength if you want to beat me."

"Force me," King said, still with his hands in his pockets as he stepped forward towards Darkshine. A couple probing punches were thrown by the larger hero which caused sonic booms as they missed King by millimetres, the blonde man dancing between them and bending and contorting his body in a different manner to nearly every martial artist that he had ever observed before. For a few seconds it seemed that gravity had no hold over him as he barely dodged the few blows and the he lashed out with a dropkick right into the centre of Darkshine's chest.

Superalloy Darkshine crossed his arms at the same time and he thrust forward colliding with Kings feet letting out another tremendous crash and Child Emperor watched in amazement as a thin crack appeared in the glass in front of him. This time King had no connection to the ground and the full force of the blow sent him flying into the steel wall; causing it to nearly crumple under the sheer momentum and left him hanging there off the ground half embedded in the wall.

"Are you going to fight seriously now?" Darkshine said as he stood in place flexing his muscles.

"I suppose I will have to get a bit more serious," King said his voice carrying clearly as he pulled himself out of the wall flipping forward a few times before landing on his feet. He looked pristine as if he hadn't taken any damage so far in the fight. "You are truly strong."

"And you haven't even taken any damage," Darkshine said joyfully before he charged in another lunging motion at tremendous speeds.

"Excellent," King exclaimed as he raised his hands turning them into fists before stepping forward and throwing a double fisted punch towards the mountainous momentum that was Superalloy Darkshine. For the third time flesh met flesh but this time it was more evenly matched as a boom of hyper compressed air tore the room apart. Neither of them backed down and punch after punch was thrown causing the air to ripple around them. Compared to Darkshine's simple and straightforward style King's seemed to be more esoteric with odd curves and changes in direction incorporated with each movement that impacted with taller hero in odd manners crushing the momentum behind each of his attacks.

"King is still not going all out," Tatsumaki said calmly, almost disappointedly.

"As expected of somebody who was killing the strongest Ninjas of the village at the age of fourteen," Flashy Flash said. "I would like to have another match with him some other time. While his punches seem to contain profound energy their esoteric motions tend to hamper his speed. I wonder if he could keep up with me."

"I do want to see his transformation," Puri-Puri Prisoner spoke up for the first time. "I wonder if his transformation is as beautiful as my own."

"He won't need it," Tatsumaki said and then immediately stopped as a punch from King got through hitting the darker hero and sending him skidding a few feet backwards.

"That still cannot penetrate my muscles," Darkshine boasted flexing his muscles and seeming to gain in mass.

"Indeed," King said smiling as he raised his hands and started clapping. "I'm gratified to see such a powerful hero to protect against monsters. As proof of my sincere admiration I will take you seriously now.

"Is he going to transform," Puri-Puri Prisoner said in anticipation, his eyes sparkling.

"No," Tatsumaki said immediately. "Just watch what happens."

Darkshine also seemed to pause as King seemed to relax and take a deep breath and then in the next second an explosion of pressure seemed to emanate from his body causing the metal of the room to swell and the glass in the observatory to explode inwards sending glass flying towards the watchers. Tatsumaki at that point raised her hand and the wave of pressure immediately broke causing the glass to drop down to the floor.

"Psychic powers," Child Emperor said out loud in sheer amazement. Psychic powers were rare and the only esper of any power in the Hero Association before today was Tatsumaki and her younger sister. Almost involuntarily he turned towards the floating esper who was staring down at King.

"He's weaker than me," she said. "That makes him a lot stronger than most of the other weakling espers."

"You have psychic powers," Darkshine said with some amazement clear in his voice and Child Emperor couldn't blame him. How weird it must be to fight somebody hand to hand and then realise that they were an esper. At this point he wouldn't be surprised if King pulled out a sword or gun and used it with the same expertise.

"Every human has psychic powers," King stated indifferently. "Most just choose not to develop them. I'm just a person who won't leave a specific ability immature. I should warn you that that the technique that I use to restrain my strength has the price of making all my muscles uncontrollable for a while. It should be three minutes before I gain control over my strength and I won't attack during that time. This would be the best time to beat me."

"I won't attack either," then Darkshine said stubbornly. "It wouldn't be a victory if I were to attack you if you weren't ready."

"On the contrary," King stated smiling. "It could be seen as a clever way of taking advantage of my obvious weakness."

"I don't really believe that you are really vulnerable," Darkshine said and Child Emperor concurred with the motion. King seemed far too relaxed to indicate than he was in anyway vulnerable and Tatsumaki who had fought against King before seemed to believe that there was no way that King would lose. If he didn't have something up his sleeve, then Child Emperor would eat his laptop.

"Fair enough then," King said as he seemed to shake out his muscles idly.

"None of us actually believe he's vulnerable, do we," Zombieman spoke up.

"No," Bang said immediately.

"Nope," Flashy Flash said.

"I don't think so," Puri-Puri Prisoner added.

"I believe he is still confident he can win," Tanktop Master said. "What do you think Tornado?"

"Don't disturb me," Tatsumaki said focusing her attention on King killing the mood somewhat.

"I'm done," King said three minutes later. "You've been a good sport."

"Don't talk like it's over immediately," Darkshine said flexing his muscles. "Get ready King," he said as he lunged forward with his usual tackle.

"I'm always ready," King said not moving even as the full force of Superalloy Darkshine impacted his body sending him… No there was no sound of collision. Child Emperors mind whirled as he tried to work out what had just happened and his eyes tried to track any sign of King in the Arena.

"He's pretty damn fast," Flashy Flash said next to Child Emperor. "Other side of the arena."

"As soon as the words registered," he immediately focused on the other side of the arena and saw King standing there nonchalantly.

"You're a lot faster than usual at least," Darkshine said as he focused on the number three hero. "I could see you move but I just couldn't…ugh." He currently clutched his chest and swayed for a bit. "What?"

"I landed a blow when I moved," King stated. "Honestly that punch would have reduced this building to rubble and your muscles just absorbed it. The fact that you only got bruised is incredible."

King's casual words caused Child Emperor to develop a cold sweat and from the looks of it he wasn't alone. The third ranked hero sounded so casual with his words and praise as if he didn't register how horrifying they were. Furthermore Tatsumaki didn't dispute the words but instead nodded in easy acknowledgement. For the first time Child Emperor acknowledged the sheer gap in power between some of the S-Class and could see the reason that the Tornado of Terror might be so arrogant.

"Hah, hah," Darkshine staggered to his feet and Child Emperor was surprised to see King frown subtly. "I can still go on."

"I'm sure you can," King said. "But I feel like ending it today, so we can just call it a draw."

"We are not finished," Darkshine said firmly as he moved towards King. The third ranked hero didn't even blink but adopted a pensive expression as he dodged another expertly thrown punch with a casual ease.

"Do you know what happens when a caged pet dog means a wild dog," King stated idly as he leaned against the wall. "I can ensure you it normally doesn't end well for the pet dog." He casually dodged a punch from Darkshine that tore through the wall like paper before he caught another and swung around the hero sending him into the middle of the arena. "Even if we did have the same strength your fangs are currently too dull to beat me." Darkshine rose to his feet but as soon as he did King appeared above him and dropkicked him into the ground before forward flipping over him and landing on his feet. In one fluid moment he reached down and grabbed both of the taller hero's hands and yanked him to his feet.

"I know a place that makes a great grilled cheese," King said. "How about you and I go get a meal there? We can make it a cheat day."

"My cheat day was yesterday," Darkshine said, almost bewilderedly. Child Emperor couldn't blame him, the change in King's behaviour was most abrupt and he still could barely wrap his head around how strong the third ranked hero became.

"That's great," King said smiling. "We can have a second cheat day. I've always said that if you're not cheating you're not trying. Thanks for convincing me to come to one of these Tats. It was really quite fun." At that point King left the room half leading half dragging Darkshine out leaving a room mostly filled with stunned silence.

"Okay that happened," Tanktop Master said. "I now know why they call him the World's Strongest Man. Well I feel like going to do a thousand push-ups."

"So about those transformations?" Puri-Puri Prisoner asked but Tatsumaki had left at about the same time as King did. Child Emperor had also seen enough at this point, he still had cram school to attend, and after that he had to code an app. Although judging by that battle he might just leave the command that wrote off any monster within one hundred kilometres of King.

xxx

**Omake**

"Dammit," Tatsumaki said as she dropped King's mug to the ground catching it with her telekinesis a second before it shattered. Her aching head spiked when she teleported sending waves of agony in her brain. She had no idea what she had drank yesterday but she had probably put King significantly out of pocket.

Fighting through the ache she opened up a closet with her telekinesis and summoned a clean dress from the cupboard quickly pulling it on before she collapsed in her own bed and groaned into her pillow. She cringed at her behaviour just a few moments ago. Never mind what happened to her dress, she had a vague feeling that she had destroyed it on a dare. Never mind that King had gotten a good look at her body, he behaved like every bit the gentle man and she had seen almost as much.

The thing that irritated her by far the greatest was her embarrassing attempt at flirting. She wasn't even sure that she liked King in that way. She wasn't ashamed to admit they were friends in a manner; he was one of the few people besides Blast that wouldn't leech off her power or drag her down to their level. Still she had never contemplated romance of any sort and she definitely wasn't contemplating it now.

No, for now she would just leave it as some casual, friendly flirting. Friends flirted, didn't they? She suddenly realised that she didn't have many friends but she would be damned if she asked Fubuki about this. She still did get the benefit of somehow winning a drinking bet with King; whatever he was drinking must have been damn potent. She even won a future reward from King that she could choose. She wondered what she could use it for in future and then her brain betrayed her by imagining a future where she asked for her reward to be… That.

Her face immediately went from pale to red as all the blood migrated to her cheeks she felt like passing out. No, no, no she would never do ask for That; although King would probably go along with it. No, she immediately shoved her head further into her pillows trying to get rid of the mental images generated by the specific magazines that a younger Fubuki had left around their house.

**Author Note: So this only took me a month this time so yay me. If the quality's gone down let me know. I've never had so many greatly positive reviews that ended by passive aggressively saying stuff like 'now if you can just do it again this year'. JK**

**Lastly, I don't ever do this. Like ever seriously. But I'm taking suggestions for a possible fifth Outsider power. Something that can be stretched upon and is very seldom used in fanfiction (not the Sharingan, its fucking everywhere) and not something that is not an already well-though out and explored system (not Nen). Sorry if the requirements are discouraging and thank you for your reviews they've really brightened my day.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Through the eyes of a young werewolf**

Despite what it sometimes felt like Toby did not spend all of his days at Mister King's house preferring to spend them either in his own one person apartment or camping out in the wilderness. Perhaps it was a particular quirk of his own inherent nature but he had always enjoyed his time out in the wilderness more than in the cities; spending it hiking, swimming, hunting, fishing or occasionally building shelter. There were still many places of wilderness in the Supercontinent and quite a few of those wild spaces had fully formed shelters where he spent a week or two just relaxing and getting away from all of it. Thus days like this where he had stayed over with Mister King, while not unusual, were still in the minority. Technically Mister King was still his legal guardian after all and while he never presented himself as a caretaker or parent he still made it known that he was responsible for Toby.

So that's why Toby was standing there cooking his pancackes when a massive explosion rocked the house causing the foundations to shake and Toby to drop Mister King's mug causing it to shatter to the ground. That was a problem for later though as Toby dashed towards the source of the explosion without a second thought. In mere seconds he had arrived at the entrance to King's basement. Previous warnings about not entering the basement entered his mind briefly but he discarded them due to his worry over his guardian.

The basement door broke as Toby pushed it open, the steel and wood proving no barrier to his muscles; it was never meant to be, which monster in their right mind would ever invade the sanctuary of King. Only one, and as that one stepped into the room he gasped out loud at the condition of the owner of this sanctuary.

Mister King stood in the centre of the room looking worse than Toby had ever seen him. His entire right arm had disappeared, evaporated taking part of his shoulder with it and a large portion of the right side of his clothes were gone. Even some of the skin of his face was gone and Toby found himself briefly repulsed before concern overwhelmed him.

"Mister King, are you okay," he said receiving a look informing him of what a stupid question that was. Of course he wasn't okay; it looked like he was hit by a bomb or some other explosion.

"Honestly I've been better Toby," Mister King said before smiling with a ghastly rictus. "But believe it or not I have been worse." Almost before he had finished speaking Toby watched as the flesh on his face started to grow back at an alarming rate. Simultaneously a few red threads grew out of his right shoulder exploding out into a vestige of an appendage before almost dragging bones out to form part of the skeleton. Then nerves and veins burst out from the shoulder travelling down the length of the arm before they were caught up and wrapped in a mix of muscle and skin. Honestly the process was saved from being disgusting only due to how quick it was and Toby found himself momentarily distracted for the three seconds it took for a new arm to appear.

"What happened to you, Mister King," Toby said, not taking his eyes off the now fully healed arm that was being wrapped in red threads. The Strongest Man in the World seemed pretty casual about his injury. Even though Toby also could regenerate he would still be pretty freaked out and in pain. You couldn't regenerate from death after all even if you were Mister King…maybe?

"I was experimenting with a new technique," Mister King said. "My experiment went awry and I was forced to redirect the force of the explosion towards my own body and try to bleed off the energy."

"What?" Toby said more than a little dumbfounded at the explanation. Mister King seemed back to normal right now and Toby began to feel more and more embarrassed. Of course Mister King wouldn't actually be hurt and now he had destroyed the basement door and from the smell he had burnt his pancakes. Toby flushed in embarrassment at the thought as he stammered to explain that he had broken Mister King's door.

"That's fine, it's just a door," King said waving him off just as he started. "I've been meaning to get another one sometime soon. The original door doesn't have that ominous feeling that you would get from a vault door." Mister King snapped his fingers and the various damages and loose objects that Toby hadn't even noticed lying around the room started flying around and resorting themselves into a facsimile of the room in its past state. "While we're done here why don't I test your training," King said placing his hands into your pockets. "It's been a while hasn't it?"

"Yes," Toby said quickly. "We haven't sparred for two weeks." Well when he said sparring it was really more of him attacking and then King dodging or blocking his punches and telling him what he was doing wrong.

"Then what are you waiting for," King said still not taking his hands out. "Attack me with all you have."

"Okay," Toby said nodding his head, knowing from experience that talking wouldn't help at this point. He moved forward swinging a punch at King who nimbly dodged it with barely any effort. The follow up was an attack from the right that aimed lower at King's side.

"Don't neglect your footwork," King said as he stepped backwards. "You're stronger than quite a few A-Class heroes but your sloppy fighting style holds you back severely. You have neither the inborn fighting skills of many Mysterious Beings nor do you have any martial arts to speak of."

His words were harsh but there was an undoubtable difference between the two of them as King stepped around his attacks with minor effort. Soon enough that red mist that so seldom appeared started to colour his vision again and he felt his muscles bulge and his canines lengthen. Hair started to grow and he felt his spine start to straighten moving from a 's' to 'c'. His eyes turned sharper just in time to see a fist appear before his vision crashing into his face and sending him into one of the walls.

"Your mind gets a bit too clouded in that form," Mister King said calmly as Toby struggled to extract himself out of the wall. A few of his bones were broken and blood was pouring out but as he left the wall he felt his wounds swiftly disappearing and his body returning to its prime condition. "I see your wounds are healing slower than usual. Maybe we shouldn't have tried this around the new moon."

Toby didn't respond, instead breathing in and out trying to regain control over his emotions. As he did so his previous transformations reversed themselves returning him to his normal self, albeit with severely damaged clothes. When he eventually opened his eyes again he saw Mister King standing still watching his hand, ignoring him.

"There's a lot of potential," Mister King said, still not looking at him. "But I'm not going to force you to unlock it. If you want to get stronger than considering picking up a martial art or go into the wilds and hunt down a Mysterious Being or two."

"Like the Abandoned World?" Toby asked only to receive a laugh in response.

"You will be eaten there puppy," Mister King said. "Beings of your strength over there are the bottom of the food chain but at least they know how to run away and keep their head down. You have no such advantages."

"Ah," Toby said feeling a bit hurt, not that Mister Kings words were unwarranted. If the creatures in the Abandoned World were really that strong then he should definitely not head that way. However it still hurt that his guardian saw him as that weak. Maybe he should try and work out again. After all Mister King said he had some potential. If he trained then one day in the far future he might even get strong enough to rival Mister King or Miss Tatsumaki.

"You will likely not ever attain that power," Mister King said and Toby got the strange feeling that Mister King was somehow reading his mind. "It's easy to say that if you trained for hours each day and put in the effort that you would get much stronger but unfortunately I just don't see you having the drive," he stated as a matter of fact. "Sometimes the ability to be able to work consistently plays even more of a role than innate talent. I've finished your pancakes for you. You may want to get back to them."

The worst part was that Mister King's tone was dismissive at all. Every word he said spoke of a deep understanding of Toby and one that he couldn't refute. In some ways the fact that he didn't care about Toby getting stronger hurt more than if he was disappointed in his strength. He looked up to see a dissatisfied look on King's face that vanished so quickly that he second guessed whether it was there or not.

"I'm going to go get the pancakes," Toby said extricating himself from the conversation. "Would you like me to make you some Mister King?"

"Would you like me to have some?" Mister King said immediately and unexpectedly. "No I don't think I will. I'm going to continue blowing myself up until I can figure out this move. Maybe you should eat your pancakes and spend some time figuring out things as well."

"I will," Toby said nodding in agreement. It was obvious at this point that Mister King was tired of conversation and the most appropriate thing that he could do was to leave him and get out of the house. It was the other reason why he spent little time at Mister King's house. While his custodian could be good conversation he didn't like speaking for long periods of time. He turned around, giving one last look at the World's Strongest Man before he traipsed upstairs to eat his pancakes in solitude.

The pancakes were pretty decently laid out and even perfectly topped with that mix of cinnamon syrup; somehow Mister King had telekinetically finished the cooking process while talking with him. Still no matter how good they tasted, and they were really perfectly made somehow (the pancakes could probably stop a demon-level monster in their tracks); they tasted bitter in the young werewolf's mouth. Toby idly took a bite of the pancake before he suddenly crouched down, placed his knuckles on his ground and his legs together and started pumping out pushup after pushup. His muscles barely burned as he did it and he easily got to two hundred without any pause before he stood up.

"It doesn't seem to have an effect," Toby mused to himself. Wasn't over a hundred pushups meant to be hard? Should he do harder exercises? Should he go and hunt down Mysterious Beings like Mister King did? Maybe he could go and ask Miss Tatsumaki for help. She did offer to train him if he ever needed to get stronger.

'No,' he thought shaking his head. If he wouldn't even impose on Mister King then there was no way he could impose on Miss Tatsumaki. Sighing Toby slipped the plate into the sink before he put on his dark green greatcoat and stepped into the meekly sunny streets of Y-City. Both he and Mister King had places of residence in Y-City but they lived on opposite ends. In fact Toby's apartment was much closer to the restaurant on the days that King opened. He went fewer days this time and the brand and intellectual capital might be sold off to a third party with Mister King retaining some involvement. Toby wasn't that involved in the discussions although he stood to gain some share in the business.

Maybe while he was out there he should pick up some groceries. Mister King had an almost inexhaustible pantry but his apartment wasn't subject to the same luxury and in fact he was running out of fresh vegetables at the moment. Yes, he liked good vegetables; he could almost hear Mister King chuckling about a veggie werewolf. His mood dropped as he thought back to the words said by Mister King; about how he had no faith in his ability, no he had no faith in his willpower.

"Am I just having stupid teenage angst?" Toby asked himself as he walked down the street. He was almost turning fourteen in a short while; less than a month. "I'm just blowing things out of proportion. I will go and apologize to Mister King when I get back." That resolved Toby nodded and headed towards the large greengrocer a half-dozen miles away; while there were closer ones none of them had the standards to which Toby had recently become accustomed to. That was just one of the disadvantages at working at a well-renowned restaurant.

"I wonder if my parents would like my cooking," Toby said out loud as that stray thought streaked across his mind leaving him momentarily unable to think of anything else. Truthfully he had no memories of his parents; his first clear memories only emerging when he was already imprisoned within white walls. It was likely that his parents had either been captured or killed by the military wing of whatever hellish science organisation captured him. Still, Mister King thought that his cooking was getting better and that would have to suffice for him.

Finally after a few minutes of quick walking Toby found his way to the large steel building and stepped through the glass doors that automatically opened at his presence. Focusing on his mental shopping list Toby strode through the aisles of the shop noting that it was busier than usual for this time of the month.

"Green peppers, baby marrow, fresh lettuce," Toby said to himself picking out the contents of his search. "Oh, scallions," he said reaching for the vegetable only to pause with his hand halfway hanging in the air. Suddenly he dropped the bag, eliciting a few protests from the surrounding customers who did not enjoy the sight of random vegetables being flung everywhere. One of the staff members ran to stop him moving when he grabbed the staff member with his hand and yanked him to the side a moment before a car weighing a few tons burst through the door landing on the spot where the staff member stood just a few seconds ago.

"Bee, bee, beets," the high-pitched voice stuttered out as a scrawny looking goat human figure with the top half of a goat walked into the store. It was bare except for a pair of black tights showcasing its ribs that were covered in white fur. Rectangular pupils scanned the shop gazing over the dozens of shoppers that had frozen in fear before it locked onto the various vegetables.

"Rad, rad, radish," it bleated as it took a step forward into the store only to pause to look at the humans in front of it as if confused. Its eyes suddenly focused on one of the nearby shoppers, a teenage girl with pale skin and headphones who was cowering with her head down, before it lowered its horns and charged.

It was only a few feet away when the shoe of Toby collided with the ribs of the goat and the thing went skidding across the floor and into a stand of canned beetroots which exploded and gave the Mysterious Being a bloodied look. Toby touched down lightly on his feet maintaining distance. From his probing attack the thing was probably a powerful wolf that was strong and durable but with very little speed and fighting skills. Still Toby wouldn't let his guard down; Mister King had repeatedly emphasised that point to Toby.

The creature quickly stood up on its hooves and focused on Toby staring him down before it lowered its head and charged forward once more. This time Toby stepped to the side as it approached only to be caught as the creature stopped on a dime and rammed its head into the young werewolf sending him stumbling back with aching ribs; his clothes given by Mister King preventing the horns from gouging into him.

Gritting his teeth through the pain Toby brought down his fists on the skull of the Mysterious Being. The goat's head whipped down but Toby had no time to rejoice as his hands stung from the rebound of the force and the goat used the separation to gain a slight bit of distance.

"Car, car, carrots," it bleated loudly as it brought its head up at full speed ramming it into Toby's stomach causing all the wind to get knocked out of him as he flew upwards into the ceiling hitting the ceiling light and getting electrocuted by the nearby wires until they burnt themselves out.

"I forgot," Toby said gritting his teeth in pain as he felt all of his wounds begin to heal. "Goats have hard heads." The situation where he was getting beaten was humiliating, even more given the fact that he knew this creature still didn't qualify as a demon. It was his own poor performance that led to him fighting it in the worst way possible.

Snarling in frustration Toby dropped down behind it just as it was focusing on some other part of the store whether food, shopper or just the pretty decorations. He lashed out quickly aiming for the ankle and was rewarded with a crack as the thing legs of the goat broke easily sending the thing plummeting to the floor. With one swift motion Toby slashed down with his claws and separated its head from its shoulders, cutting through the tough muscle in a second.

Toby stood back up breathing and just feeling his wounds recover quickly. His werewolf physiology did cause him to swiftly heal although the recovery was noticeably faster when it was a full moon as opposed to one that was still new. Still the beast shouldn't have taken so much effort to go down and it was only because Toby had fought so poorly that a mere Tiger could have given him so much trouble. Shaking his head he resolved to do a better job of it in future_ and then the pain hit him.

A star exploded in his chest as bursts of agony told him that his body was definitely not okay. Almost as if he was in a trance he looked down to see a muscled, black-furred arm with long hooked claws stab straight through the centre of his chest; a wound that would be fatal to any human. The arm retracted and Toby fell forward barely catching himself before he fell and scuttling away. He turned around in time to see another massive arm fly towards him and his world went white as it penetrated through his stomach and intestines causing him immeasurable pain. He opened his eyes to see a swarthy nine-foot tall heavily-muscled humanoid lion wiping the flesh and blood of the goat creature off of him.

"I hated that stupid goat," the lion said in a deep rumbling voice as he threw Toby into one of the aisles toppling it over and causing the werewolf to be covered in fresh tomato juice. "I've spent so long trapped inside his weak body. My only companion was that feeble mind that could think of nothing more than grass and greenery. I can promise you boy that I'm not a vegetarian however."

Toby struggled to his feet feeling his regeneration start to slowly kick in. His weight had been reduced a bit considering the massive gaping holes in his torso and it was only for that reason that he was still able to stand. Even untransformed his constitution was a lot tougher than a human; well an ordinary human at least.

There were a few humans and so Toby tried to block himself from their line of sight as his injuries stitched themselves together, but there was absolutely no hiding from the black lion. The Mysterious Being looked at him with realisation in his eyes that was slowly replaced by scorn.

"You're no human," he growled towards the recovering Toby. "Why on earth would you waste your life protecting these humans?"

"Oh don't try and pretend there's any kinship between us," Toby said at a voice so low that normal humans wouldn't hear him. Despite both being Mysterious Beings they weren't even the same species; and even if they were there was there might have been hatred regardless. Even humans a species that was generally placid had irreconcilable hatreds, why on earth wouldn't they.

Feeling the rest of his wounds heal up, Toby crouched down before he pounced at the humanoid lion lashing out with his claws in an attempt to carve into the beast. Just as he was bringing his claws to cut into the lion he felt his wrists grabbed with crushing force and then a knee hit his torso with such force that his spine buckled and his wounds reopened gushing with blood. The pressure on his wrists redoubled and he felt the bones creak as the lion that had a good two feet pushed him down.

"Pathetic," the Mysterious Being said as he was oppressed by the overwhelming strength of this creature pressing down on him. "Well if you can't be a predator, then you can be my dinner." With those words he leant down and Toby's world went white with pain as steel teeth clamped into his shoulder for an instant before a chunk was torn from his shoulder.

He was released and he stumbled backwards, his right arm hanging by a thread as the creature devoured his flesh with blood pouring from its teeth. Toby took a step back in panic as his slowly healing arm twitched while slowly regenerating. His breathing was heavy as he realised that he could not beat this creature, at least not how he was. A brief glance around him revealed that the store by now was mostly empty with the few remaining humans focusing on making the same escape. Toby turned his head back as the lion prowled towards him confident in his own strength and victory; and there was a very good reason for that considering he was handing Toby his ass. Growling in annoyance Toby stepped forward lashing out with his claws using the same move and was immediately caught once more.

The lion bared his teeth cockily at the same situation but his smile faded as the strength difference narrowed. Simultaneously Toby grew from his almost five feet height to six feet and his muscles bulged outwards as thick brown fur covered his body and a snout protruded from his face. He returned that mocking grin before reversing the grip on his wrists and crushing his arms.

The lion immediately lashed out with his knee driving it into Toby's form which caused the werewolf to stagger backwards slightly but otherwise did no damage to his completely unharmed torso. In response Toby stepped forward throwing a left, right left combo that caught him on the last swipe cutting into his skin causing a burst of blood to erupt. A look of absolute fury blighted the lion's face and he punched forward with a blow that Toby was forced to cross his arms to block.

That was a mistake because right before fist met forearms the lion opened his mouth and roared; and Toby's ears burst as a wave of sound hit him shaking his insides and causing his teeth to rattle. That brief moment of distraction froze Toby and the next blow landed right in his throat causing his trachea to crumple inward. He nearly blacked out from pain and while his windpipe started to heal almost automatically he was certainly not able to protect his head as he was slammed down into the floor. He rose from the ground with teeth bared and wounds regenerating only for a foot to slam him back to the ground with such force that he felt his bones break and his body go limp. Light briefly entered his eyes again as he spat out a bunch of his broken teeth and he had a brief moment of lucidity before nearly half a ton of lion drove his head straight through the floor again rattling his skull.

His body wriggled limply, out of his control and a muddled sense of panic was the only thing he felt and the detached feeling of his impending death filled his emotional spectrum; but he could muster no strength to oppose it. The expected death didn't come as he felt the foot lift up off of his head and the Mysterious Being move away. The rumbling voice of the humanoid lion reached his ears but he was unable to understand them as his body's regeneration kicked in trying to restore him to functionality again. In a few seconds his trachea restored itself, his teeth grew back and lucidity returned to him.

As he snapped back to full consciousness his sense of danger returned. He was still on the floor and if he didn't move right now then the lion would resume his beat down. Swiftly he raised his guard returning to his feet and scanned the room looking for his foe. However the sight that greeted him was not one that he was expecting. Instead of the fierce and contemptuous lion that he fought against there was a corpse standing frighteningly still; lying next to the corpse on the floor was the decapitated lion head with a look of unspeakable horror on its face. Slowly, achingly slowly the corpse started to fall revealing the killer of that creature.

An abnormally handsome blue-haired man stood dressed in a white jacket and black pants. He affixed Toby with his yellow eyes and for a brief instant Toby felt the weight of unspeakable hatred focused on him. His breath hitched as he tried to in some way understand just how this person he had never met managed to despise him so much. The blue-haired man stepped forward and Toby took a shaky step backwards in response cursing his werewolf instincts that showed him just how much he was outclassed by the person in front of him. He gritted his teeth in self-reproach and was just about to defend himself when one of the shelves containing vegetables crashed down between the two of them.

"Change back Toby," Miss Tatsumaki said as she descended into the building from the same hole that the car thrown by the goat opened up. "And you Mask had better drop that look before I ruin that pretty face of yours."

"And let a Monster go free?" the man that Toby now recognized as Sweet Mask said with contempt bordering on disgust in his voice. "Can you bear the responsibility if that thing goes out and kills a human? Since when have you ever heard of a Monster respecting human's right to live. I should eliminate that hideous thing right now."

"You do that and I'll reduce you to meat paste," Miss Tatsumaki said and as she spoke small pebbles and dust started to rise from the ground in clear defiance of the law of gravity. For a moment it looked like the two would start a fight in which only one would walk away from.

"Hey Tat's do you want some Apple Coffee," Mister King said as he walked down the aisle with a pack of gourmet coffees in his hands. "Oh, you're here as well Sweet Mask. What flavour coffee would you like?"

"Don't act so casual King," Tatsumaki rebuked immediately as Sweet Mask just stared in shock at the unexpected S-Class hero who had joined the conversation. "There is no way you don't know way you haven't been aware of what was going on. How long have you been observing?"

"For a decent length of time," Mister King said throwing an apple-flavoured coffee towards Miss Tatsumaki before he reached into the box and chucked one towards the surprised A-Class hero. "I think I'm really starting to enjoy these canned coffees. Do you want any Toby?"

"No," Toby said meekly as he slowly reverted back to his human form. For some reason the change was a lot harder than normal this time.

"Wait, you know this monster, King," Sweet Mask said dumbfounded. No dumbfounded was too light a term. He looked as if his world axis had suddenly turned 180 degrees and fallen out from beneath him.

"I adopted him after rescuing him from a lab about a year ago," Mister King said lackadaisically as if he wasn't admitting to housing a Mysterious Being. "Although to be honest he's more like a little brother than a son. I'm not exactly a person who strictly enforces family roles."

Toby swallowed at that moment realising his mouth felt very dry; he felt happy at Mister King's words but there was another emotion running beneath the surface that felt like guilty or shame. On the other side the blue-haired hero looked like he had swallowed a lemon and for a brief instant an ugly countenance overtook his face; so quick that Toby could barely see it.

"Monsters have no concept of family," the man said firmly, his words almost daring King to refute his stance. There was something strange about his words; they contained a certain underlying desperation that told Toby that he was missing a vital part of the conversation.

"That's entirely untrue," Mister King said firmly. "For the most part Mysterious Beings experience the exact same motives and emotions as humans. The difference lies mainly in the fact that their emotions are amplified and their restraint is heavily diminished. Believe me when I say that I listen to the story of every Mysterious Being before I kill them and I have slain thousands. There were more than a few that concerned themselves with family."

"But you still killed them in the end," Sweet Mask said clinging to the thread of logic that would win the argument for him.

"I have killed every Mysterious Being that I have ever met," Mister King said his voice earnest which immediately caused a look of surprise to show on Sweet Mask's face as well as an equally disbelieving look from Miss Tatsumaki. Mister King however had that look on his face that indicated that he was just waiting for an expected response.

"But then why...?" Sweet Mask started before he cut himself off manifestly trying to figure out a way to phrase the question.

"Because Toby is not a Mysterious Being," Mister King said getting a look of shock from Sweet Mask and contemplation from Miss Tatsumaki. "The definition of Mysterious Being requires one to not be a human and to pose a threat to society. Toby does not pose a threat to society and not just because he isn't that strong. His character is not one that would cause suffering to humans." Kings voice was warm clearly broadcasting his approval.

"That's just semantics," Sweet Mask spluttered. "Nobody uses that description. You are using that definition just to justify your decision."

"Of course I am," Mister King said calmly adopting a pose with his arms crossed. "But I can only use that definition because my position is inherently justifiable. It is said that the beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms and I don't mean to brag but I have a quantifiably large amount of Wisdom."

"But then if a monster no longer posed a threat to society you would just let it go," Sweet Mask said still in disbelief.

"Depends on the monster but I could let them go," Mister King said casually. "I have let them go in the past. Actually the non-human part of the definition is where I am most likely to let it slide. Anybody who has spent any amount of time in society will find that there are humans that commit more evil then any Mysterious Being. Would you like me to whip up a meal and then we can have a chat? I always believe people are more honest over a good meal."

"Before you go along and have your little heart to heart do you want to finish up here," Miss Tatsumaki said with irritation in her voice. "I refuse to believe that you don't notice it King."

"I've actually fought this type of Mysterious Being before," Mister King said chuckling to himself. "The goat, the lion and the snake; each one is a bit tougher than the last. The snake hiding in the corpse is a low dragon in case either of you want to take it out. Be careful they are pretty fast."

The next second an explosion happened as the corpse of the lion was crushed cratering the ground beneath it. Toby flinched back as pieces of scales and flesh fell apart about a metre from him. He didn't even see the beast move and Miss Tatsumaki had already destroyed it. Surprisingly Sweet Mask had also moved at the same time almost interspersing between the now vaporised corpse and Toby himself but not quite arriving in time. The hero stopped halfway as the creature disappeared before a shocked and doubtful look appeared on his face.

"Ha, it seems that you also don't think of Toby as a Mysterious Being," Mister King said seriously as he took a sip of his coffee. However this time Sweet Mask's expression was strange as he looked at Mister King with a look of sudden understanding.

"You know," he said with a complicated expression on his face.

"Always have," Mister King said.

"Then kill me," Sweet Mask said bowing his head slightly and Toby recoiled as he got the feeling he had jumped ahead twenty chapters in a book and now half the party were now dead or traitors. He turned his head towards Miss Tatsumaki who was now fixing Sweet Mask with a stare of iron. The shorter esper saw him looking and made a gesture that told him to relax.

"Haven't you just listened to the whole speech I've given," Mister King said sighing. "If you ever go wild and start killing indiscriminately then I will be the first to put you down." He then gave a wild smile. "Not because I hate you or I want to put you down but because I can sense an interesting story behind you and I would love to give you an appropriate epilogue."

"What?" the A-Class hero said raising his head and Toby was shocked to see veins and scars cover his face. "But you are a true hero. You've saved hundreds, myself included, who owe their lives to you. You've killed thousands of monsters and all monsters fear you. People venerate you as the Heroes' Hero. You must hate monsters."

"You of all people should know how dangerous it is to place people on pedestals," Mister King said. "Yeah I do take some enjoyment from people but I really, really enjoy listening to the backstories of Mysterious Beings before I defeat them. I've even got a book back home just with a record of Mysterious Beings and their backstories and it's over a thousand pages now. If I hated them why would I even bother to record their words? Do you think I'm such a pervert that I can get off on their dying words?"

"But then_," Sweet Mask started.

"Wait Sweet mask is a monster," Toby suddenly blurted out finding his voice only to blush as the three remaining in the store turned towards him.

"Yes I am," the A-Class hero said. "Would you like to kill me? What about you," he said turning towards Miss Tatsumaki. "You've made it quite clear you hate me."

"Hmph," Miss Tatsumaki said crossing her arms and turning her head away. "Killing something so pitiful would ruin my mood. I'm with King on this one," she said softly before her eyes glowed and her voice turned cold. "If you ever start killing humans then King won't even have time to hear your last words." In an instant Sweet Mask went stiff as he was lifted into the air, unable to move a muscle. "I will personally tear you into pieces so tiny your fans won't even see a corpse." With a slight gesture the A-Class hero dropped to the floor where he lay kneeling while his face reverted to his handsome appearance.

"You don't understand," the blue-haired man said with clear desperation in his voice. "I'm losing my humanity. Besides my constant desire to kill evil everything else is disappearing."

"Even your love for your fans," Mister King said seriously, before his voice seemed to take on a mocking tone. "I've told you what I've told you before, so listen up. Monsterification cannot add something that wasn't already there and cannot take away something which is fundamental to your concept of yourself. Anything that you become will ultimately be a possible outcome that you could have become even without transforming into a monster. What you have lost is a hell of a lot of restraint. I recommend mediation for that, or buying a puppy. Here I'll even let you borrow mine," Mister King said and Toby's eyes widened as he felt his custodian put a hand on his shoulder and push him towards the A-Class."

"What," Sweet Mask said only a second faster than Miss Tatsumaki. Both of the heroes were now eying King like he was taking leave of his senses.

"I've been meaning to get Toby a spot in the hero association," Mister King admitted casually. "He's an easy A-Class but he could use a mentor."

"But he's a werewolf," Sweet Mask said with genuine confusion.

"I'll vouch for him," Mister King said. "Tell anybody that if they have a problem with a werewolf hero then they can take it up with me."

"And if they need a second reference I will be glad to offer it," Miss Tatsumaki said.

"Wait what happened to not forcing me to unlock my potential?" Toby said a bit confused at the unexpected situation.

"That was before you threw yourself at a demon level creature," Mister King said resolutely. "If you're going to do that then there is no fucking way I'm not getting you some training."

"Okay," Toby said turning his head away as he felt a warm feeling in his chest at his caretaker's concern.

"Wow busy day," Mister King said chuckling. "Oh well Tats and I were going to catch a movie and the two of you are frankly not invited. So I'll leave it to you to deal with the after action reporting to the association. I've already taken out the cameras."

"That's correct," Miss Tatsumaki said somewhat huffily. "If you had invited them as well I would have broken your arm."

"You would have tried," Mister King said scoffing with a smile on his face. "Farewell then." He gave a wave as he turned around before he easily leapt up and out of the hole in the roof with Miss Tatsumaki following after him. Toby watched them go before he turned his head to the side and started to realise that Sweet Mask was standing right next to him. The hero was looking him up and down with an uncertain look before he turned to the door just as the first emergency personnel were entering the building.

"Just follow my lead," he said quietly and then all signs of vulnerability were gone and a mask of perfect poise descended upon his face as he went to confront the humans arriving at the scene. A second later Toby followed after his new mentor.

xxx

**6 Months before canon**

You know, one of the weirdest things that I had to deal with in my twenty-eight years of life was the presence of luck that I had been building up for my lifetime until I had maxed it a few months ago. Unlike King of the webcomic/manga/anime who appeared to have endless luck I had started with a measly 25 and over the nearly three decades gained an extra nine million nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and seventy-four. During that period I had learnt a few tricks on how better to use my luck such as contracting it into a brief moment to land a devastating blow, focusing on a single effect that I wanted to occur and one of my most interesting; siphoning the luck from others.

That was why I sat on the roof of Z-City general hospital holding up threads of red that felt around examining the people in the intensive care unit. Each one of these threads would look around for sources of fortune, tapping the wellspring before glowing orange and healing the bedridden patient. For the next few weeks they would probably lose a few bets or trip over their feet or have a humiliating encounter but considering that the majority of those I sapped previously had no future past a few weeks I considered it a more than fair bargain. I had been doing this process slowly over the last few hours while slowly watching the darkness recede. Finally when the sun peaked itself over the horizon showering the land with golden light I stopped.

It was really quite a beautiful day I thought as I stood at the edge of the hospital. I could already hear the slow thrum of humanity waking up. Besides that omnipresent hum of civilisation the roads were relatively quiet and there was not a single sign of my work. That was good I suppose. While normally I would be looking forward to any sign of a Mysterious Being today I wasn't feeling up for it; I had far more important things to do. I guess I was lucky.

I made a single misstep as I released the ever-present psychic restraints before I regained my stride and allowed my body to adjust to my full strength. Almost casually I shook my hands feeling the air crackle at simple motions causing gusts of air at the sheer force from my unrestrained form.

**King **

**The Gamer**

**Title - None**

**Species - Human**

**Health- 24 999 999/24 999 999 **

**Mana – 24 999 999/24 999 999 **

**Level – 9 999 EXP 9999999999/9999999999**

**STR – 9 999 999**

**VIT – 9 999 999**

**DEX – 9 999 999**

**INT – 9 999 999**

**WIS – 9 999 999**

**LUK – 9 999 999 (12 456 803)**

**Points -0**

**Money 5 486 686 571¥**

I had reached my maximum potential and now it was now time to go past that. Unfortunately **Demon-King Mode** required a certain stimulus that was barred from me and so I had subsequently decided to seek it out. This was the day I arranged. Butterflies notably did not flutter inside my stomach and I both blessed and cursed **Gamer's Mind** for that very reason. My final destination was an empty field in the abandoned area of Z-City almost three hours walk and less than a minute if I put some effort into it, but I didn't see the need to put any effort into it considering my meeting was still a ways away. Instead I took the scenic route stopping by the many beautiful vistas of Z-City that steadily faded away to be replaced by crumbling architecture. I grabbed a skewer on my way to the location and slowly picked away at the strips of beef speared on the metal rod.

I arrived at the empty field with plenty of time to spare. Like much of the abandoned districts in Z-City the place was a dump with rusting implements arrayed over yellowed grass and glass from nearby windows scattered among the tangled foliage. Ever since the Mysterious Beings had come out of the woodwork a few years ago the property values in this area had fallen sharply in this area as this place was hit with a disproportionate number of attacks coupled with a slow response from local heroes. The combination of those factors had slowly strangled this part of the city of any value it had once held leading to it being relabelled a ghost town; and it was in this empty field in the middle of a ghost town that I stood leaning against a half-buried metal sign while waiting for my opponent.

Time went by until the hour of the meeting approached and then time went by a bit more. Still it wasn't as if I hadn't expected this; the future was a murky swamp but I could occasionally glimpse through the foamy surface and into the ripples of future events. The event before me caused fierce ripples that blotted out any fine details while illuminating the basics. A quick estimation indicated that I still had around two hours left and so I closed my eyes and activated **Supreme Awareness of the Natural World** just idly sensing the world around me in a form of meditation I found relaxing. I took a single breath before I slowed down my heart rate and reduced my energy outflow to a crawl.

Two hours passed in a blink and I soon felt a familiar object approaching my resting place. My dormant body took a single breath as my systems returned to one hundred percent in a blink and I opened my eyes to see a familiar depilated figure clad in a recognizable yellow jumpsuit with white cape and red gloves. He looked quite embarrassed to be so late but I couldn't hold it against him. I was the one who asked for the meeting in the first place.

"I'm sorry," Saitama said. "A cat had stolen my glove."

"Must have been quite a cat," I said smiling to myself. "Are you prepared?"

"Yeah," Saitama said. "Is this where we are going to fight? Should we put up a barricade?"

"That won't be necessary," I said trying to hide the excitement and anticipation in my voice that was bleeding through **Gamer's Mind**. "This is where we are going to fight." My words were accompanied by a casual touch in the air that revealed an orange doorway. I had searched for over a month for an Instant Dungeon that was stable enough to really take some heavy fighting. Unfortunately even tough Instant Dungeons would degrade after a few battles with Tatsumaki let alone the absolute devastation I was prepared to release. This one however was nearly as stable as the real world (if it could really be called that) and would be able to easily absorb any massive bouts of destruction.

I stepped through the doorway with anticipation and was confronted by a world that was pouring with rain. The skies above me were pitch black and thick tree-like bolts of lightning that plunged the world into pure white before being chased an instant later by devastating rumbles that I could physically feel.

"Fucking weather," I yelled out, my absolute fucking frustration at the fucking meteorological conditions managing to drown out even the thunder for a moment. I'd been in here over twelve times and not once had it been anything but flipping blue skies and sunshine and then the one day I come out it's like fucking Enlil tried to give it another go with the whole Sumerian Flood shit. I could already see rivers of water start to flow out of the portal and I thanked my fucking stars that Life Fibers were waterproof. I didn't need fucking wet socks to go along with this whole fucking thing and what I really needed right now as some really good synonyms for 'fucking'. Over twelve million luck my butt.

"Where are we?" Saitama said as he walked through the orange door holding up his hand above his head. "If you had told me the weather was like this I would have brought my umbrella."

"I've honestly spent some time in this dimension and it was never like this," I said seething. "There were sources of water of course but they were generally lying the ground and not in the sky." I sighed as I felt my annoyance dissipate as the humour of the situation hit me. "**Tiger-King Mode**," I said and immediately felt my body start to change and the temperature of the surrounding areas immediately ratcheted up to thermometer exploding levels.

"Are you okay, man," Saitama said looking concerned and I just gave him a thumb up as I started walking deeper into the watery world allowing the orange portal to close. All the waters in my vicinity started to boil before they transformed into vapours that rose towards the sky creating a scalding mist that ascended into the skies. The transition from cold to hot created huge updrafts that brought forth gale force winds that dispersed the clouds. In the span of ten seconds my **Tiger-King Mode** had changed the weather and the very landscape turning the deluge into a desert.

"Oh wow," Saitama said. "It feels like you dry cleaned my suit."

"My apologies but it is likely to get crumpled again," I said as I took a breath and regulated the power of my **Tiger-King Mode**. The beat of my hearts were deafening and my blackened flesh smelled like char but I succeeded in retracting the energy to right beneath the surface of the skin; ready to be unleashed in a moment. "Ready," I said; receiving a short nod in response as flickers of anticipation broke through Saitama's emotionless façade.

"Great," I said snapping my mouth shut before I crouched down and dashed forward in an explosive burst. My psychic powers and my own internal energies combined together around and begun to spin ferociously and my concentration was pushed to the limit as I was forced to control the nuclear level destruction that I was wielding. Simultaneously the air in front of my fist turned to plasma at the sheer force behind it and the sound barrier shattered into a billion pieces sending out deadly sonic waves.

All of these effects happened in a mere millisecond and they lasted until the instant my fist connected with Saitama's torso. I could feel a rebound of force reduce every bone in my hands to powder but it was worth it to see the spectacular effects. An explosion that would likely have vaporised most of the S-Class erupted turning the area just in front of me into an unsurvivable hell.

Saitama went flying as well; the undefeatable hero disappearing through the mist of plasma, rock and flame that accompanied my punch. Without any preamble I instantly healed my bones and dove headlong into the pandemonium. **Supreme Awareness of the Natural World** was the real MVP in situations and I quickly locked onto Saitama's presence dropping down on him with a kick that he avoided, even while flying through the air, and I immediately transitioned into a knee that connected with him and sent him skidding across the ground before he caught himself and regained stillness.

I was on him in a second and had to avoid a punch while simultaneously returning a cross punch. I managed to deflect most of the force but I still felt like my left shoulder broke as he clipped me while my punch straight into his bald forehead merely caused him to move back one step. I matched his step as I felt my bones re-fuse. I slapped my hands together causing loose dust, mist, water and lava to be blown away allowing me to see the results of the brief confrontation.

Saitama's jumpsuit was tattered but there was not a scratch on him. He lifted his hands before clenching them into fists and I could see a brief look of interest on his face before he swung his fist towards me. I countered with my own fist pushing that near infinite **Spin** to its limit and matching the force head on. Two fists collided for an instant causing an immense shockwave before my knuckles broke and I was forced to slide backwards. Saitama was halted but otherwise it looked like he took no damage.

"**Consecutive Normal Punches**," he said stepping forward and I raised my arm as what felt like hundreds of arms flew towards me. I raised my arms as the onslaught of arms crashed into my body giving no chance for rebuttal and I smiled as I watched the other version of my body flicker and turn into static before it disappeared.

"," I announced in turn as the one of the eyes of my stand turned flickered and turned dark. In a second two more versions of myself appeared as the upper pair of eyes lit up and I dashed backwards putting space between the two of us. The copies of myself went all out using deadly moves but collapsing into static seconds later but they had bought me enough time to create some distance.

"Excellent," I exclaimed before I lashed out with a storm of orange-coated threads. Saitama stepped back flickering as my eyes strained to catch his motion. His motions appeared effortless as he ducked between the waves of strings and I immediately reached out with my Psychic power stretching it to the limit to halt him. I think the surprise did more to halt him then my actual force as he broke free almost immediately but not quick enough for hundreds or orange-coated threads. It was a sound like grinding metal as these strings attempted to cut him to pieces but they weren't able to break his string and he reached out to grab a few hundred of the strings before he used his remarkable strength to pull me towards him. My strength was immense but paled compared to his and thus I used the momentum covering my body in orange light even as I wound up for my ultimate move.

"**The World Burns**," I said causing my psychic power and internal energies to spin before they synced up creating shocking interference. However unlike its predecessor the **Shun Shun Rika** rejected the combined energies from affecting me and the rebound created another set of waves that redoubled the interference. The human meteor that I had become could have wiped out the dinosaurs and I briefly saw Saitama's eyes turn sharp as he took a stance and held out a fist.

"**Serious Series: Serious Punch**," Saitama said seriously and I grinned at the thought of pushing him so far before it was replaced by shock at just how powerful the resulting blow sent towards me was. It was unexplainable like telling a medieval villager about the size of the universe and my self-preservation told me to run, but I didn't feel fear. I couldn't feel fear and so I grit my teeth and dug deeply into my reserves pushing my powers further than I had ever done. I stretched my hands out and formed them into fists lashing out at the point of impact.

**Mistake**

**Danger**

**Death**

**Regret**

**Gamer's Mind has S-H-A-T-T-E-R-E-D_**

In that instant of collision I felt my death coming towards me and then blackness, and the next thing I felt I was in the sky; no the ground beneath me was gone revealing an endless abyss. The space around me was cracking and I felt like the lifetime of this dimension had suddenly jumped very close to expiry. A wave of emotion overwhelmed me that I didn't—couldn't process right now. My thoughts raced through hundreds of variations before focusing on the one overwhelming all of my senses right now. The absolute fear of death permeated every single cell of my body and all 37.2 trillion cells were united in their fear against the dying of the light.

"Monkey Dance," I said naming the secret technique from Toriko that was learned from Bambina the Monkey King. I rejoiced as I felt each and every single one of my rapidly regenerating cells and they all rejoiced with me united in our emotions. My interest peaked as I realised that nearly all of the cells grown back were pure **Gourmet Cells**. With a smile of anticipation I deepened my synchronization with each and every little part of me before I ordered them to **Spin**. Functionally infinite amounts of energy coursed from my supercharging my regeneration and reducing me to my peak form; no too far beyond my peak form.

The **Life Fibers** in my body formed into my full body suit and gorged themselves on my energy before returning just as much strength into my cells reinforcing the machine and holding my body together. Sparks of electricity drawn from my body by the **Life Fibers** were greedily digested but created a vast area of positive charge as a result causing the entire dimension to crackle as lightning bolt after lightning bolt struck the ground repeatedly. Pores in my body opened up releasing blood that immediately evaporated creating a vermillion mist that boiled around me. Pure power changed into pure pain but I couldn't even feel it as my nervous system was replaced by the red threads that were the only thing keeping me from exploding.

"**Demon-King Mode**," I said every word I said sending out a puff of flame and bloody mist. I turned my eyes towards Saitama and was surprised and keen to see him looking at me with some anticipation. I took a step towards him noting how awkward the feeling was as my **Life Fibers** had to physically drag my leg towards him. "**Imperfect Demon-King Mode**," I corrected myself. "I can't keep this up long," I admitted with some embarrassment.

"Bring it on," Saitama said and took a familiar stance.

"Great, wonderful," I said nearly overwhelmed by emotions. I smiled widely as I took my own stance drawing back my fist once more invoking my strongest move. "**The World Burns**," I tried to say, speaking through a mouthful of superheated blood. By no means was this my best attack. In fact it was probably the least elegant attack I had thrown for over a year. Still I doubt anybody would have complained if they were able to see it. I can't describe how the attack looked because the world had turned white at that point and I later found out that my eyes had been covered by bloody tears but when the **Serious Punch **was thrown once more I no longer felt that absolute terror.

Time passed once I had thrown that attack and I stood there expecting to once more feel the effects of that **Serious Punch**. I don't know what happened after that. My vision grew dark as I ran out of something; stamina, willpower or something else. I had an overabundance of energy but I wanted nothing more but to rest and as soon as that thought hit me it became overwhelming. The attack ended and I stood there in darkness as I felt my body start to repair the physical damages as my cells started to go to sleep and my **Life Fibers** retracted into my flesh leaving behind a normal pair of clothes. I tried to open my eyes but they felt like the heavies thing I've ever had to lift and so I gave up. Even my **Supreme Awareness of the Natural World** wasn't responding and I wondered for a brief terrible moment if I was dead before I felt a pair of arms around me preventing me from falling forward.

"Good fight," I heard Saitama say and if I could move a muscle I would smile right now. I had lost, but I knew that I was going to lose from the start. "We should have another one when you get better?"

I tried at this point to smile or to confirm the rematch but I couldn't. I couldn't even open my eyes anymore and I couldn't assess his condition. I wasn't sure if he was being genuine or just faking it, after all he did that with the fight against Boros. He might just be saying that to make me feel better. Suddenly through the blackness a blue text box popped up in front of me.

**Quest Partially Completed!  
Defeating the One Punch Man**

**Objective  
1) Defeat Saitama after he has broken his limiter. (Not Completed)  
2) Give Saitama a good fight that will alleviate his apathy. (Completed)**

**Gained Title "The World's Penultimate Being"  
Gained 8.3x10****24****xp**

The long absent noise of experience received was enough to lure me off to sleep with a smile on my face.

**Author Note: Bit of a short chapter. Thanks for the recommendations. You have given me a lot of ideas about what to watch next...also for this fic.  
I remember some people making comments about the timeline. I have kept it deliberately vague and King actually never does see Saitama fight the Crab. He wanted to avoid it. Saitama's attitude is slightly different though.  
**

**I'm reluctant to write lemons in due to them technically being illegal. Don't want to get the mods on me. If I do I might just do what I've previously done and put them in a separate story. Probably make a pun on the the word King while doing so.**


	7. Chapter 7

I sat with easy relaxation on my couch with a plate of food balance precariously on my lap after a hard day's work and with the knowledge that my next few hours would be engaged with the somewhat carefree process of absorbing media via the medium known as the internet or playing videogames or just reading various stories. I took another bite of my supper (was it chicken, fish, mince, pasta, chops) and switched the channel on the television (was it nature documentaries, comedy, discovery, travel). Next to me my sibling made a comment and I nodded while glancing towards my phone.

In the other lounge my parents were chatting watching their own shows that so often reflected my own particular taste inherited from them. I finished eating my food, last as usual and headed to the kitchen. My duty had always been drying the dishes, although sometimes I would just do them in the morning if I could think up an adequate excuse or had pressing business. Today I didn't feel like skipping on my duty or rather I was scared of skipping on my duty, but I didn't know why I was scared.

I dutifully cleaned the plates and utensils while then placing them back in their place. All the while that I did this, I tried to clear the fog from my mind that prevented me from recalling whatever it was that I didn't recall. I growled inwardly at the futility of my attempts knowing that this recollection shouldn't be able to escape my near ten million intelligence.

"Wait," I said as those word that I generated in my mouth felt inherently wrong. "I don't have ten million intelligence. Intelligence isn't measured like that." My breathing grew shallow as that feeling of disconnection swelled becoming an almost tangible wrongness. I dropped the plate to the floor watching it shattered as the remnants of my old life shattered as well.

"I died," I said with a muted realisation and those two words shattered the sense of calm and peace; shattered my world causing the reality to warp and become mere shadow before it. A door nearby slammed open forcing me to gaze upon it as it released a soundless howling that chilled my bones and struck unfathomable fear into me. I took a step forward powerless against the suction force, my strength amounting to nothing more than a child's against whichever force was compelling me to enter the door.

I tried to turn around and gaze upon that which I knew that I had lost but any feeble resistance that I had felt was reduced to zero under the oppressive might of the door or whatever lay behind the door. I panicked and I screamed but all noise was drowned out by the oppressive silence. Without even the ability to struggle or to delay or to say goodbye I was pulled into the door.

xxx

I woke up with a start clutching my hands and causing the concrete floor to crack with the power contained in my fingertips caused the ground to crack and splinter and shake. I opened my eyes but saw nothing and I raised my hand to wipe away the gunk covering it. I wiped off the gunk letting it drop to the floor where it sizzled and melted the concrete and I realised that I had been crying the equivalent of liquid napalm and the tears wouldn't stop flowing down my cheeks and eroding more and more of the floor carving two pools of magma into the ground.

I opened my mouth to speak only to spray out bile and blood that immediately turned to steam and evaporated into the air, eating into the roof and surroundings. I tried to regain myself only to continue retching clouds of misty red that caused the very air to burn. Somehow, I managed to clamber to my feet but even small motions of my body were needlessly destructive to the poor unresisting warehouse. I had asked Saitama to drop me off at a nearby warehouse far away from human civilisation and it looked like the winner of the fight had kept his word well. An almost instinctive knowledge backed up by my own peering into the future told me that the aftermath would be likely detrimental to my surroundings. Parts of the warehouse around me had already collapsed and judging from the positions of the holes I had probably instinctively protected myself using telekinesis when sleeping.

'Still I seemed to be doing well all in all,' I thought looking at my body. No further injuries adorned my body and I could feel new strength flowing through my limbs causing me to smile as I contemplated my victory before a sob tore through my lips. The napalm started falling from my eyes at a renewed pace like two molten waterfalls and I felt a hot sweat overcome my body discharging superheated steam into the area around me melting steel and concrete. Lastly the beat of my hearts picked up pulsing waves of heat around me that hit like a physical force.

"I died," I repeated the words from my dream as twenty-five years of emotions hit me like a supernova leaving my mind in shambles. "I won't…" I won't what?" See my parents again. See my friends. Gain my qualifications. Finish my DND campaign. Retire. Finally publish that story I had been working on. I died and all my dreams died with me.

Twenty-eight years of blocked sorrow and muted existential dread carved my hearts into pieces and ravaged my mind and I found myself ultimately unable to vocalise my distress even in my head. It was impossible for me to relax and the deep breaths that I tried to take caused havoc as my entire lungs absorbed all the oxygen around me before they exhaled causing jets of superheated air to explode outwards; vaporising the remains of the ceiling and blossoming into the air like a fiery mushroom. If I continued like this I was going to explode and break things and that would be the end for Z-City without Saitama.

Although frankly I couldn't care; I couldn't care; my ability to care was broken currently. Was this a panic attack some weird conscious part of my mind that was easily overrun by my instincts said? Am I having a mental breakdown? I couldn't deal with this; I really couldn't deal with this. I hate worrying and angsting about things but even that would be better than the limbo that I found myself in now. Some small part of my conscious brain told me I needed to leave and I instinctively knew where. My emotions didn't inhibit my intelligence and so I fortunately instinctively knew that there would be few places on earth that I could not go all out.

When I was seven I was already able to hold my breath for over four hours and even after I had lost the **The Ultimate Life Form** I still had ways in which I could prevent breathing. This had greatly helped me when I travelled between various islands and I had easily spent hours underwater at a time. I wonder how long I could survive now. I stared upwards at the blue of the sky causing by the diffraction of light and jumped. Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesospehere and Thermosphere I had passed them in a few seconds and I took one last deep lungful of air before I passed the Exosphere and into speckled blackness of Outer Space. A platform of psychic energy formed beneath me and I kicked off of it launched myself away further from Earth.

The deadlock between my emotions was slowly breaking down and despair seemed to be winning so I moved further and further away as my emotions surged and roiled within me and my body grew hotter and hotter until even I felt uncomfortable. With a thought I activated **Wolf King** **Mode** and felt my cells that had started to burn regenerate instantly and then I activated **Tiger King Mode **and felt my cells immediately began to resist the heat even as the heat increased.

Some sense of self-preservation prevented me from activating **Demon King Mode**. While I had finally unlocked it and the vast energy that it gave me did as much, if not more, damage to myself then any opponent I used it on.

Earth was nearly completely out of my sight and so I relaxed and let it all loose, my body bursting into flame as the full weight of my emotions crashed down on me causing me to lock up as I tried to process the weight of my feelings.

That freezing occupied my thoughts and completely prevented me from noticing the massive comet until it hit into me and I found myself in the middle of thousands of tons and ice and rocks in pretty terrible pain.

xxx

Turns out I can hold my breath for a lot longer than I thought I could. It was nearly five days later that I decided to return to the planet and a lot had changed since then. Near the end I was sweating lactic acid as my body went under severe anaerobic exercise and I found my limits. The pain was good to an extent as it distracted my mind allowing me compartmentalise my sorrow. I suppose I could have healed myself using **Shun Shun Rika** but the empty space that had done me so many favours by allowing me to rage as I pleased had now started to wear on me and my dark thoughts that had proven so overwhelmingly potent were now replaced by a slow poisonous trickle that wore on me.

I let the last of the oxygen in my lungs dissolve into my blood getting my first reprieve from the vacuum for a few hours before I raised my hand and deflected another comet coming towards me. I wasn't up to date on the latest comet collision statistics when it came to asteroids but I am sure that twenty two in five days was astronomically greater than normal, if I can be forgiven the pun. It also reconfirmed my decision to leave the planet swiftly. My overuse of luck had allowed me to not only put up a good fight against Saitama but to break my **Gamer's Mind** which I had been aiming to do so for a while. Unfortunately this extreme luck came with the downside of getting a rash of bad luck which still hadn't completely faded and likely wouldn't for a while. Out here there could be no other casualties to my horrific luck.

I extended my psychic powers and grasped the asteroid before I altered its course slightly heading towards the blue and green planet that I had lived on for twenty nine years. After a few quick calculations and a minor peek into the future I sat down and went into torpor slowing down my heart beat as I used my powers to accelerate the asteroid. I made minor course corrections as the comet went onwards shedding more and more of itself as it burned through the atmosphere until it was a mere ten feet wide.

Re-entering orbit was one of the most intense experiences I have ever had in my life as air that felt like molten steel obstructed me. Still it wasn't enough to hurt me and so I took a deep breath of the metal air; filling my lungs with the stuff and returning to full consciousness. With one last move I tapped the comet causing it to shatter into little pieces that I hurled into the oceans before I kicked off a foothold myself before I dived into the ocean furthest away from the supercontinent. The oceans in this world were actually surprisingly dangerous; at least comparable to the Abandoned World in some places.

While the Seafolk were extremely small fry for the most part there were things that lurked in the blackness beneath the Twilight Zone that were…challenging. These Lovecraftian horrors were normally worshipped or avoided by the weaker sea dwellers out of fear that a whim would cause them to devour them all. I slid through the water like a knife before I slid a thousand feet down from momentum alone easily entering into the Twilight Zone before I kicked and went deeper as my **Life Fibers** morphed into the form of a wetsuit.

I wanted to kill something, to vent my frustrations to fight and channel my anger into a task that required no higher order thinking. The water bubbled and boiled away as I dove deeper and deeper until, with no resistance or prior warning, I found myself digging into solid rock and I forcibly stopped myself before I burst through the core and hit the mantle. My mind was really out of it at the moment; the cool clear clarity given to me by **Gamer's Mind** was no more and I felt myself losing concentration more easily. Gladly I had already spent the long arduous process of training otherwise I may have problems with my current mind-set.

I pulled myself out of the sand and rock using **Supreme Awareness of the Natural World** spreading my consciousness over miles and miles of ocean as I started swimming through the ocean at tremendous speeds. The ocean boiled around me uncontrollably as I swam and I tried to clamp down on the residual heat but was unable to. That was something that I also needed to work on. While it was okay to let my heat run wild in **Tiger King Mode** doing the same in **Demon King Mode** would lead to unspeakable amounts of collateral damage due to the vast amounts of energy given off in the latter form.

I was so lost in thought that a slight vibration was the only warning I got before my ears popped and the entire ocean exploded in a wave of deadly sound. I felt more than saw fish disintegrate around me as my bones thrummed and my skin quivered under the intensity of the audio. Still it would take more than that half-hearted attack to hurt me. While mentally I wasn't at a great place my body had only improved. Without any preamble I shot off in the direction of my attacker.

I was in pitch blackness but there was no way that I could miss the creature. Even the tides seemed to bend around the enormity of this monster. I had run into some pretty massive Mysterious Beings on land but the ocean has always been in a league of its own when it comes to size only. I kicked off the water darting to the side a thousand ton tentacle composed of a mix of rotting conjoined fish impacted the body. I could sense more than see the mix of creatures composed into a fleshy form of eyes and so many teeth.

I mutely registered my surprise at that attack. From what I could sense the main body was still over ten kilometres away from me at this point. To still attack from that distance truly showed just how enormous that creature was. Surprisingly enough 'Good' was the only thing running through my head at that moment. Unless a creature was above an average Dragon at this point I wouldn't even be able to get a warm up. Hopefully this one can take a punch.

**Life Fibers** extended from the tips of my fingers and I lashed out simultaneously **rejecting** any attempt to resist my cutting and I was gratified to see the massive tentacle be diced into cubes by that slash. However with barely a pause the chopped flesh seemed to flow back together slowly reforming into the original tentacle. I didn't allow that to happen however and so I swung both my hands sending out ten **Life Fibers** that cut and shredded the thing into little pieces.

As I did that another being appeared in my senses and I became aware of another limb shaped like a massive bloated whale over a hundred metres long with three mouths joined into one overlarge gaping maw. A glimpse of the future immediately got me moving just in time before a physical wall of sound exploded vaporising the area that I stood previously. I lashed out with one of my **Life Fibers** stretching it the full distance towards the whale creature wrapping it around the appendage before pulling myself towards the thing.

It turned astonishingly fast aiming towards me with its mouth and I lashed out with a punch at the same time as the shockwave came towards me. The ocean boiled as the two forces met halfway sending an explosion that I dived through infusing my body with **Spin** and turning myself into a rotating wrecking ball as I dived into the mouth of the beast. The squishy bits inside were literally burned away as I kicked off one of the teeth burning and blasted straight down the throat and through the other end turning cooking the beast alive in a display of whaling that would make the Japanese proud.

The thing slowly reformed behind me but I didn't slow. While I could easily fight the appendages the main body of the creature lay still in front of me by about seven kilometres. I stretched out my senses towards the blackness in front of me looking and trying to get an image of the creature and_

"**Submit. Join. Accept. Combine.**" The psychic command hit me like a truck sparking a massive headache and once more causing me to curse the downsides to my loss of **Gamer's Mind**. For just an instant I got an image of a massive trio of eyes that stared down at me filled with an emotion I didn't understand.

Immediately I felt a swarm of bodies start to proceed towards me and for the first time in a long time I time gulped in a fear that was as annoying as it was irrational. For fuck's sake I survived re-entry, just why these creatures were freaking the fuck out of me was beyond me. Actually I pretty much guessed the reason immediately.

"Welcome back Thalassophobia. I have not missed you," I said to myself although underwater it likely wouldn't have been heard. In front of me a swarm of creatures straight from the prehistoric abyss known as 'Hells Aquarium' approached. I think the creatures were some type of Mosasaurs although they were even bigger than the beast was rumoured to be coming in at around thirty metres and they spread out before circling me as if testing my awareness. There were about seventy of them and I deliberately released more and more heat to offset the cold sweat that these creatures provoked from me.

One of the Mosasaurs darted towards me just out of my sight and immediately lashed backwards with a **Spin** infused punch that split the ocean and sent forward a blast of pressure that tore into the creature nearly breaking the thing into two pieces despite its size and bulk.

"Oh yeah, I'm strong," I said to myself reproaching as the rest of the creatures darted towards me in perfect coordination despite the loss of one of their members. I summoned **Shun Shun Rika** in the form of lances infusing my dislike and fear into the objects forcing them to expand and contract as long as I needed them and in a minute the remaining beasts were dead pierced through and riddled with fatal holes. Yet they still moved sluggishly but certainly as if compelled by an inflexible will.

I allowed myself to drop down to the ocean floor along with the blood and fleshy detritus barely allowing my foot to touch the seabed before I darted forward covering the remaining distance in a couple of seconds. In that short time I blew through school of piranha like fish a wave of writhing eel-like creatures and a trio that looked like a mix of crocodiles and dolphins that moved astonishingly fast.

"**What. Creature. Refuse. Fuse.**" the beast spoke causing me to physically recoil in pain as I got within a hundred metres of it. While I still couldn't see in the darkness **Supreme Awareness of the Natural World** showed me its basic shape. A head like three massive squid melted together each donating one of a trio of eyes sat upon an upper body that looked to be a mix between a manta ray and a lobster which trailed off into legs consisting of hundreds of wing-like fins. The entire process made it look like a Cthulu-esque angel.

"**It-Screams. Witnesses. Second-Life-King.**" it said causing my blood to run cold. I hated the idea of anybody seeing my past and I was particularly sensitive about that issue at the moment. I really didn't want to dwell on my prior life even after gaining control over my emotions there were still questions that troubled me severely driving a sick spike into my stomach.

"**Demon King Mode**," I said sharply activating the ability that I had used only once before. This time it wasn't in the desperation of a losing battle but the cold calculation gained by one who had already achieved their goal and wanted to analyse it. Unfortunately for myself; even the act of having used it once barely prepared me for the effect of activating it once more. My cells began to **Spin** before the floodgates cracked open and a vast unquantifiable deluge of energy welled up inside me. **Life Fibers** greedily drank in but even the parasite that was destined to devour the world was unable to sup upon all the energy released. I tried to restrain the heat that burst forward from my body but it was like putting my hand on the stove and I was forced to release the heat along with superheated blood that boiled the ocean and turned the waters red.

"**_.**" the thing screamed in agony as it boiled and I was tempted to scream along with it. The difference between the **Tiger** and the **Demon** was immensely vast both on the output and the strain that it placed upon me. I was reminded of that scene in My Hero Academia when All Might explained how a body could explode from the strain that his Quirk put on it and I found I could empathise. Thankfully my body healed just as fast as it burnt up but I could feel the damage start to pile up and I decided to end this quickly.

Without even naming my punch I turned the ocean Dragon back into carp dinner. It was only later that I realised that I felt no satisfaction from doing so.

xxx

"Hey you're back, Mister King," Toby said as I walked into my own house. The kid was decked out in cleaning clothes and I wondered for the first time if I had inadvertently created my own Genos. While he had a standing invitation to my home I had hardly expected him to use that invitation for the purpose of coming over and cleaning.

"Toby what the hell," I exclaimed giving him a double take as I processed the new information. "Who hears that I'm going to be away for a week and then decides to clean my house?" Despite my bewilderment I felt my mood lighten at the befuddled look of my ward.

"Apparently I do," Toby said putting down the duster awkwardly. "Is that weird?"

"A little," I said giving him a bemused look. "I mainly told you in case the Association called. By the way how has it been on that front?"

"It's been a bit busy but they have been dealt with," Toby said with some confidence that didn't seem to be misplaced. "I killed three monsters this week." His tone said to praise him but without knowing how strong they were I wouldn't be able to tell if it was an achievement or not.

"What ranking?" I asked watching him freeze.

"One Wolf, one Tiger and one Demon," he said and I could almost visualise him lowering his ears in an expression that showed that he expected disappointment.

"Wolf and Tiger are a given but good job on the Demon," I said as I walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a can of cherry cola. "Want anything?"

"I could do with some tea," Toby said and I immediately refilled the kettle with my psychokinesis before flicking it on. "Are you okay Mister King?" I stopped at that. No I really wasn't but Toby shouldn't be able to pick this up. I wasn't exactly wearing my emotions on my sleeve.

"No I'm not," I said sharply causing him to flinch before I sighed. "Relax Toby. What gave it away anyway?"

"I sometimes can pick up how people are feeling. Like if they are nervous or scared or something," he said hurrying as if the words couldn't fall out of his mouth fast enough. That was quite interesting and something that I didn't know; maybe it was a werewolf thing. "Do you want to talk about it? They say a problem shared is a problem halved."

"So they do," I said as I sipped my cherry cola. "Unfortunately you'll find that things that people say are often correct but seldom always correct. Sharing a problem helps when you don't know the how to proceed but doesn't help when you know the answer but are unable to accept it."

"But why would you be unable to accept it," Toby asked and I felt a momentary spike of irritation before I calmed down and finished my cherry cola.

"People are very resistant to large changes in their life," I said as I flung the empty can in an arc causing it to bounce off two walls before it ricocheted off the table and into the bin. Even if we understand the best course of action we can't just immediately switch. The key to accepting change is time."

"So what's changed then?" Toby asked. This was unusually nosy for him but as I looked closer I saw the signs. He seemed actually really freaked out in a way that I hadn't seen him for a long time. I suppose this was the first time that he had seen me without **Gamer's Mind** regulating my emotions.

"Something changed long ago and I'm only feeling the effects of it now," I said before shaking my head reproaching. "Don't worry it's just a bad mood. Everyone has them and they go away eventually."

"If you say so Mister King," Toby said finally laying the topic to rest. "Are we still going to do a slot at the Y-City Banquet this month?"

"Ughh," I said as the image of the yearly even stoked memories. "I remember that. I've already booked so we can't cancel."

"I'm sure that we can cancel if you don't want to…" Toby started looking reluctant and I realised that he was looking forward to this event for some reason. Well there was no need for him to be concerned.

"Remember what I said about people not liking change Toby," I said as I moved forward rustling his hair causing him to squirm and try to push my hand away. "Consistency matters a lot in life and you can't just abandon things because you have a bad day Toby or because you're not in the mood. That's part of being an adult."

"You're being condescending today," Toby said pouting as he 'managed' to remove my hand. "I really hope you get out of your funk soon Mister King."

"Don't worry I will," I said with plenty of confidence in my voice. 'I hope,' I thought with significantly less confidence.

xxx

**King **

**The Gamer**

**Title – The Penultimate Being**

**Species - _**

**Health- Unquantifiable**

**Mana – Unquantifiable**

**Level – 10 000+ **

**STR – Exceeds Limit**

**VIT – Exceeds Limit**

**DEX – Exceeds Limit**

**INT – Exceeds Limit**

**WIS – Exceeds Limit**

**LUK – Exceeds Limit (7 432 196)**

**Points -0**

**Money 5 501 569 452¥**

I idly looked at the status screen that had become vastly unhelpful over the last couple weeks. I don't think that **The** **Gamer** was designed to take me this far and the thought that I was exceeding the parameters was both terrifying and gratifying at the same time. Beneath that stat block lay a broken string of numbers and letters where once my **Gamer's Mind** and **Gamer's Body** sat proudly.

I was sitting in an empty dimension just breathing as I tried to enter **Demon King Mode** once more. The endless energy provided by the **Spin** coursing through my cells could only be sipped at and never fully guzzled or I would explode. This time the boundless fire beneath my skin was detained beneath my epidermis and the heat from convection was stopped further by a thin layer of pale orange over my skin; **Shun Shun Rika** had grown in leaps and bounds since the loss of **Gamer's Mind**.

It was about three hours before I had to start setting up for the Banquet but even that task could barely occupy my mind. I couldn't help ruminate over the pointlessness of it all. My food would be good as it always was. I couldn't remember the last time my food was inadequate. The slow upward improvement due to The Gamer was more than enough to ensure that every plate I prepared was incrementally better than the last. Despite the current problems with **The** **Gamer** not one scrap of that skill was lost and with regard to the process of preparing food I was as omnipotent as ever.

The irony that I was probably feeling very much like Saitama in this one aspect was not lost to me, and I wondered just how much my loss of gratification mirrored his own. I am a person who genuinely hates angst. I despise the vicious/pointlessness of being trapped in your head wondering about questions. To my mind questions should be answered or discarded and I hated the idea of wasting precious seconds in my life by pondering over unfathomable questions. Unfortunately there is a difference in knowing what the empirical best action to do is and being able to embrace it.

"," I said and my stand appeared over my shoulder, multiple eyes perusing secret histories ready to project at any moment. Exercise burned off extraneous thoughts and fighting burnt off more than anything else as all worries about the past and future were eliminated by the relentless battle.

My stand conjured up a copy of the strongest opponent I could; myself. I watched with an unusual amount of anticipation as a different King appeared in a flicker of light before solidifying. Even when summoned next to me I had no idea to describe any differences. To be frank if I wasn't myself then I wouldn't be able to tell which one was me.

I immediately leapt forward throwing a punch that was dodged effortlessly even as the ground evaporated from pressure alone. Tendrils of **Life Fibers** darted towards my position and I could sense their hunger to devour my bioelectricity. A wordless grin crossed my face as I pointed my fingers forward curling my hand into the shape of a gun and allowing the built up heat in my body to explode out of my second and third fingers. Invisible beams of pure heat carved trenches into the landscape evaporating the land as matter was forcibly raised in temperature by tens of thousands of degrees.

Unfortunately none of them landed anywhere near my copy; who simply dodged the blasts an instant before I had even started firing them. Precognition combined with **Supreme Awareness of the Natural World** was damn annoying to counter at the best of times. I could have tried to counter that with my own precognition but I instead tried to test the limits increasing the beams until it was comparable to something straight out of Dragonball. I tested the limits of the dimension until the entire space was creaking over and over as the world shook to pieces. This was amazing. I had put so much effort into training over my decades and this was the first time in a long time that I felt powerful, able to do anything. Besides one specific case I don't think there's anything else on this rock that can defeat me. I don't think I would even lose to Boros. I smiled as I felt the last vestiges of depression float away from me…

"Can we have a word," my own calm voice said from behind me causing me to jolt backwards in surprise. Sitting behind me relatively unfazed by the carnage was my copy. In disbelief I turned towards who just stared blankly at me before alternating looking at the two of us as if confused who his real master was. I genuinely did not see that coming and I had to stifle a chuckle as I watched my duplicate.

"I have always been a believer in taking the appropriate time for myself," I said getting a mirrored smile. "Is this going to be an evil clone thing where you have to accept the darkness in your heart?"

"Fuck no," my clone reflexively said. "Let's keep this series at least free from that particular cliché."

"Well then are we going to have to fight then," I said with a smile that indicated that this was also preferable only to receive a bemused smile.

"Wait just a moment," my alternate said before without any hesitation whatsoever he reached up to his body and with a motion that was as sudden as it was sickening tore open his body in a shower of gore.

"What," I found myself exclaiming as I leapt back. I couldn't help it. I had seen hundreds of sights that would be called disturbing but somehow none of them were half as shocking as my mirror image tearing itself open. My shock redoubled as I saw exactly what emerged from the carnage.

"Hi myself," the splitting image of my past self before my death said as he dusted himself off from the decidedly non-bloody bits. "It's been a long time." He was dressed in a black jacket and a white facemask with coffins surrounding him.

"Why the Persona reference," I asked trying to wrap my head around just what the hell was going on here.

"Because it's a good series," my double immediately shot back. "If you were in this situation you would do the same. In fact," he gestured to himself. "You just did."

"Yeah I did," I responded still a bit shell-shocked at the situation. "So are you my death?"

"One of them at least," my past self said shaking his head. "You can call me the Ghost of Christmas Past."

"I'm not doing that," I said shaking my head. "So is this actually real or is it just in my mind? And don't you dare quote Harry Potter," I said as I saw my duplicate begin to open his mouth.

"Then don't set me up," my past self said. "Do you remember how works?"

"It scans the target and I believe accesses their little chapter in the great **Akashic Records**," I said working it out immediately. "So my history included the time before and after the reincarnation." I tilted my head as I looked at the unthreatening person in front of me. I was easily millions of times stronger than my past self to the extent it wouldn't even count as a fight.

"That sounds likely," my alternate said. "So I think you can imagine just how disconcerting it was to see a future depressed version of myself standing here."

'I'm not depressed,' I wanted to say out loud, but something stopped me. While I would gladly lie to anybody else lying to myself just seemed weird. If this never happened again then this would be the only chance to speak for a person who truly understood me. 'Wait a moment.'

"Do you know what happened?" I asked curiously. Despite being in my old body there seemed to be no confusion from Stand King. I would have expected a few more looks of amazement and more than a few 'what the fucks' if I was suddenly in this situation.

"We painted the sidewalk red and you were reincarnated into the body of King from One Punch Man," my past self said talking about the incident as if it was just a random event. "It's been twenty-eight years and you've gotten pretty strong."

"Still not as strong as Saitama though," I said with a rueful grin.

"Nothing worth doing is ever easy," my past self said and the two of us stood in subdued agreement.

"Hey," I said after a while. "What do you think happened to my parents, my brother and my friends?" The question had been bothering me for a while lately. **Gamer's Mind** was insidious in a way that steered you away from any questions that appeared traumatic. It wasn't mind control as such but urgent questions became less urgent as the mind remained placid when maybe it shouldn't have been.

"It's been twenty-eight years," my past self said, not sugar-coating the response at all. "Parents are probably dead. Brother and friends are old if they aren't dead. They probably saw our corpse, mourned, felt their world end and then life went on as it always does, sans us of course."

"Yeah," I said chuckling. "What a way to end the year. I can only hope that the next was better for them."

"That's the beauty and horror in life," past me said sighing before he took a seat on the ground before lying down on the dusty earth. "Looking forward to the cooking thing you've got."

"No I'm not," I said. "But you know commitments. You're going to ruin your clothes if you lie down like that."

"Yup, commitments are the things that you get over quickly so you can do your thing," past me said. "I was surprised to see that cooking became one of your commitments. Also this clothing is either temporary or imaginary so I don't care what happens to it."

I almost didn't hear his last words as the implications in my past self's words hit me. I didn't like cooking in my past life. When did I start liking it in this life? The preparation and use of ingredients to create culinary masterpieces was something that I could do, but was it something that I wanted to do?

"Yeah," I said as the full implications hit me. "Cooking is one of my commitments. I've never liked it. I just did it to keep my Gourmet Cells fed and it became the logical hobby."

"Then what isn't a commitment?" past me asked not moving from his position. The doppelganger had this annoying disposition like the whole thing didn't affect him.

"Training was fun," I said to myself and…well to me as well. "I like finding ways to use my powers. I also do like fighting; although I prefer fighting monsters to humans."

"Monsters have a lot more interesting motivations," past self said. "It's just that their motivations are incompatible with human society. Humans are complex and it's seldom as black and white when dealing with them; unless they're an absolute asshat of course."

"There's no shortage of absolute asshats in society," I said. "I guess it's because monsters always look like they're having fun despite the situations. They're gloriously malevolent as opposed to humans whose malevolence is too often self-justified. They're self-aware as the villain in the play that is our lives?" I questioned more than answered trying to put my thoughts into words. "There's no moral ambiguity, just two irreconcilable forces."

"You have allowed them to shine for that one beautiful moment before granting them a swift epilogue," past self said. "It's truly a shame that few were able to witness that moment."

"Yeah," I said. "But that's life. Even the greatest of pharaohs were forgotten in time. The ripples of a person's life mostly vanish shortly after death. We live and die and the world goes on."

"Only a person's works are forever," past self said and I started to see what he was driving at the whole time. "When was the last time you wrote something out?"

"Twenty-Eight years," I said thinking back through my life. The past decades felt more like a dream or a vacation then a career or a life. I looked back on those days with fondness but I felt like I had no desire to relive those days of constantly hunting and training.

"Man that's more years than I've even got," my past self said. "So what are you going to name the book? There has to be the word King inserted in there somewhere."

"That's a given," I said. "What would you call it?"

"FucKing Monsters," my past self said and I snorted in laughter. Not at the title but how in sync our reactions were.

"I haven't grown up much these years it seems," I admitted. "Hey," I asked. "Do you think this might be a dying dream? Maybe I'm still just bleeding out on the road or unconscious in the hospital."

"Maybe," past self said. "How would you know in the first place? Maybe we're all living in Plato's cave. The only thing you can do is to use what you're given in the end."

"That's slightly depressing," I said, but it was the good kind; the existential melancholy that informed me that I was alive and time was ticking and to go out and do something.

"And speaking of using what you're given," past me said. "You've still got one more outsider power left haven't you? You gained that at level ten thousand."

"Yes," I admitted easily. "I was planning to only activate it when my luck had returned fully."

"I doubt that there will be much difference in this case," past me said. "I would like to know what it is before I leave."

"Ruining my build," I grumbled with no heat. I hadn't wanted to focus on a new outsider power yet. While luck was one reason my mind-set hadn't recovered fully and I didn't want to start the process while distracted. This conversation though… I couldn't think of a single thing that did it but I felt much more relaxed after this chat. Not happier but that existential dread was more manageable. The least I could do to show my appreciation was to honour that request.

Without hesitation I called up the blue window and looked at the words that I had already seen four times already.

**Outsider  
Despite your birth here you are fundamentally a creature from outside the current world. By taking this point you are made aware of knowledge from a fundamentally useful power and gain a random power from one of the other universes not chosen. Using this power will damage your body initially as it is native to a different universe.**

A click of the button and I felt my body freeze as an incorporeal sensation invaded it. I was familiar with the process and this time I controlled my body's instinctual reactions preventing that innate sense of rejection that always made the process trickier than it needed to be. My confidence was overturned in a moment as the annexing power immediately froze my body. Over ten million vitality, multiple hearts and gourmet cells and yet I was still brought to the edge of death in under a second. The cold clammy claws of the reaper called to me and I forced myself to stay awake. I was still in **Demon King Mode** and yet the energy was indifferently absorbed by the force.

An agonising few seconds passed before the force withdrew from a few of my hearts allowing my cells on the fringes to recover before it moved towards my head. For a brief second I considered extracting my own brain rather than deal with that thing again but my reluctance faded as the force hit. For an instant I blacked out before I rallied and commanded my **Gourmet Cells** to heal any damage. Simultaneously I activated **Shun Shun Rika** infusing it with my will and desire to live and instructing it to keep me alive.

The pain was excruciating and I found myself crying steaming blood from my closed eyes as my brain pulsed in agony. Brain cells burst and I thanked my impossible recovery abilities that prevented me from dying on the spot. Achingly slowly the pain disappeared leaving me on my knees.

"I think I should have waited for my luck to fully recover," I said to my past self.

"I doubt it would have made a difference," my past self said, his voice sounding unusually faint. "Do you know what your new ability is?"

"Just give me a moment," I said attempting to open my eyes and find the name of my new ability. That search for a name was rendered entirely obsolete as I opened my eyes to find a world infused with thousands of lines.

"Ah crap," I said to myself instantly recognizing the power as I shut my eyes tightly. "The only question was 'what version of the power did I get'.

"Did you belong to Shiki or Shiki," I said to myself. "Or were you SHIKI's. The thought was amusing but didn't help the situation and so I allowed myself a few seconds to recover before I opened my eyes again. The lines were back and harsher than ever. These ugly truths scarred their way into the fabric of the world constantly reminding me of the mortality of everything around me.

"Hey," I said to my past self. "Still think that was a good idea?" No words came from him. He wasn't there; if he ever was. I stood alone in the middle of an empty collapsing dimension watching its death. I sighed before I stood up and started looking towards the lines trying to narrow down the specifics of the power and I saw something shocking.

Under my eyes the lines morphed into sentences and the points became full stops. A random stone picked up from the ground proclaimed its end proudly stating that as the dimension decayed it would be eroded by the empty space reducing to energy after which the stone as a being would meet its end. As soon as I saw that the writing flickered instead telling a different story at the moment I chose to remove it from the dimension and I whistled even as I started getting the beginnings of a headache.

On last experiment and I reached into my pocket for a pen that I had used just a few hours ago to write down the last needed ingredients. With two flourishes I had traced one of the ends and I watched in amazement as the stone dissipated into energy; thankfully it didn't explode like a nuclear weapon. I hate the decontamination process.

Whistling to myself I disappeared from the collapsing dimension and back to Earth.

xxx

"How was your vacation," Tatsumaki said as I served her food. "There was a Dragon charging around Y-City when you were out." We were at the Y-City banquet and my little slice of culture was packed as usual.

"That was the stage magician right?" I asked. I was actually slightly upset about missing that one; a magician who had his theatre demolished for some block of towers who decided to burn the city to the ground in revenge. "How strong was he really?"

"He was not that strong," Tatsumaki said as I sat down at her table taking a bit of a break. "He summoned these hordes of rabid bunnies that were even weaker." That could be anything from Wolf to Demon in strength. Tatsumaki didn't have a good grasp of differentiating anything below Dragon.

"I must thank you for that then," I said. "Toby definitely wouldn't have been able to beat him then."

"No problem," she said before she turned to give me a look as she put down her tea. "By the way just why are you wearing sunglasses in winter?"

"I'm doing sightless training," I said half-truthfully lifting my sunglasses up and revealing my closed eyes. Leaving them open for too long would give me a mild headache and could prove very distracting. On the plus side even opening my eyes would help to level them up easily.

**Mystic Eyes of Death Perception (LV 13) – Active  
Eyes that can see the end of all things in the form of lines that denote loss and points that show epilogues. By tracing the lines inevitable injuries manifest and by piercing the points the person's death is enacted.**

It was a weird and brief description of a power that I knew pretty well. Still my particular manifestation seemed to be different as every character that had them previously had their own version. I was pretty sure I couldn't kill concepts for one. I hadn't had the time to perform much experimentation as I had recently been very busy cleaning up Mysterious Beings. While I only had only taken a few days off from my hero duties I still wanted to be seen as more reliable than most of my colleagues who tended to be anything but.

"You know a technique to see without eyes?" Tatsumaki asked instantly interested and I nodded. The shorter esper was astonishingly hard working when it came to her training. I had no doubt that she would use the fact that it was possible as incentive to learn how to do it herself and little doubt that she would succeed. I wouldn't hamper her ability by telling her that it wasn't an esper power.

"Yup," I said before grimacing as I saw somebody I didn't really want to see. Well to be fair I didn't dislike the guy that much, but he was often surrounded by at least one person I hated.

"Oh it's you," Tatsumaki said as she saw the short man in a business suit.

"Sitch," I responded knowing that my companion might have forgotten his name. The Minister Office of Justice was looking calm as per usual and there was a brief look of surprise as he saw Tatsumaki sitting with me. That meant he was here for me. Next to him stood a man I respected as well, the founder of the Hero Association Agoni and a person I respected decidedly less, the chief of the Y-City Hero Association branch.

"King," the man said. "How was your vacation?"

"You leave for five days and suddenly you're indispensable," I replied before offering them a spot at the table. Despite the fact that only Tatsumaki and I sat together the table was enough to sit eight people. "I think my phone still hasn't recovered." I gestured towards Toby giving him the standard gesture that waiters knew meant to come and take the customers order and my ward did so immediately holding up the notepad ready to take orders.

"I will just have water," Sitch said before turning towards his companions.

"A lager please," Agoni said pointing to an item on the menu.

"I won't have anything," the Y-City chief said. The two of us had run-ins before and I had made no pretences as to my thoughts regarding him. He must be really uncomfortable right now.

"So what can I help you with?" I asked as I Toby handed the menus to them.

"It's a bit of a complicated issue," Sitch said.

"The Hero Association has an image problem," Agoni said directly. "Every day Heroes put their lives at risk and yet their sacrifice is ruined by a few bad apples."

"There's more than a few," I said. While I liked him that didn't mean I would sugar-coat my words. "The corruption in the Association is notoriously endemic at this point. It's quite impressive when you think about it just how quickly the rot has set in the last three years. At this point I think that if you tried to cut it all out then you would barely be left with a functioning company." The three of them winced at that; especially the Y-City Chief who was part of the fucking problem in the first place.

"That's unfortunately true," Sitch said remorsefully. "While we have put efforts into curbing the disease the fact remains that the citizens are slowly losing faith in the industry. There are good people in the Association still and nobody was to benefit if the Association was to disappear."

"That's probably true," I admitted. I knew of the future existence of the Neo-Heroes but very little about them. Regardless of the future if the Association were to collapse today there would be countless problems.

"We just need some good publicity to buy some time to enact these measures," Agoni said and I watched the Y-City chief give a dismissive look before I nailed him with a look that was just one second short of stopping his blackened heart. That shut him up pretty fucking fast.

"PR is more of Sweet Mask's thing than mine," I said getting a small sound of condescension from Tats; who really didn't like the A-Class Hero. I was a pretty classic example of an introvert and public appearances wore me out quite quickly. Even the twice that I had showed up on television were more trials than things that I enjoyed doing or was good at.

"Please try," Agoni said with sincerity that I couldn't easily reject. "I don't know if you realise just how much of a myth you are to some people King. If you can just give some of the citizens a reason to believe in Heroes then maybe we can reverse this trend."

"Why aren't you asking me?" Tatsumaki said and I bit my tongue trying to think of a diplomatic way to get them out of this situation. None of the three looked like they wanted to speak up after being faced by Tatsumaki's glare and I decided to intervene.

"Would you even consider it," I said laughing it off. "We both know that you hate that sort of stuff even more than I do. If you're so eager to go on TV or to some sort of PR gathering then I am sure I can try and get that arranged."

"Hmph, no thanks," Tatsumaki said immediately backing down. I could see she saw what I was doing but she was not so unaware that she didn't know how anti-social she was. She was quite a bit worse than me in that regard.

"Have you arranged anything yet?" I asked as I turned back to the men.

"We were planning to ask your permission before we went ahead with it," Sitch said looking more reassured now. "We will ask to coordinate with Sweet Mask about the programme. The two of you have a working relationship I believe."

"We do," I said, before I paused. "Can I ask you to hold out on that for a bit? I've recently started writing my memoirs (recently as in I've just decided to do it and scribbled out a prologue). Maybe that will give some people something to ask me."

"Really," all three of the men said with almost unnerving synchronicity.

"Yeah," I replied. Well technically it was less about me and more about the monsters that I fought. Fights with Blast or Saitama wouldn't feature at all.

"How much longer will it take to get the manuscript out," Agoni said with barely concealed excitement.

"First draft should take a month," I said. "I was thinking of splitting it into three parts. The first book from the age of six to twenty. Second book from the age of twenty when I was in the Abandoned World for a lot of it. Third book from the time I arrived back at the Supercontinent up till the current day."

"Will you really have enough material," Sitch said doubtfully but I had no qualms giving him an affirmative answer to that.

"I have fought and killed easily over ten thousand Mysterious Beings to date," I said casually bragging about my achievements. "That should be enough detail to full ten books."

"Certainly," Agoni said taking a deep swig of his lager before banging it down on the table. "You might want to put the book through Sweet Mask before you publish it. He's rather experienced in those matters."

"It would make it easier on me," I easily admitted. "I will be taking the rest of the month off to finish the first book." I saw some looks of nervousness at that so I decided to throw them a bone. "I have my phone on me. If it proves absolutely necessary that I help then just phone my number and tell me the location and I will sort it out. Please don't abuse it though."

My words were soft spoken but none of the men were under the illusion that I was a pushover. While I gave people a lot of leniency I did have a limit and none of them there were looking forward to finding what it was.

"That's fine," Sitch said. "The Hero Association isn't going to collapse due to the absence of a few members," he said sounding reasonably confident.

"That's great," I said standing up. "Please enjoy the rest of the food. It's on the house." It was a polite gift, the cost of any meal was pocket change compared to the wealth of anybody at this table. "Hey Tats can I ask you something?" I said as I walked out of my designated area before taking a single leap and launching myself to the nearest tall building.

"You just did," Tatsumaki said touching down gracefully a second later. "You hardly need to ask permission in the first place."

"Fine then," I said. "I wanted to ask if you wanted to come along to my vacation."

"Oh," Tatsumaki said with some great surprise. "You're going on vacation to write your book. Which vacation spot have you chosen?"

"It's a little cove in the Abandoned World," I said. "There are beautiful reefs, great fishing and fascinating Mysterious Beings that we can observe or just fight."

"Sounds lovely," Tatsumaki said with an awkward expression. "But are we going to be living in a tent because I've never camped before. I would not like to start." In Tatsumaki speak that basically boiled down to, 'I don't want to look like an idiot attempting something new that I'm not good at.' Even in all the time that I knew her, her pride seemed to get stronger and stronger.

"I've set up a lovely cabin there years ago," I admitted. "Fully stocked and I can simply hunt up any other supplies."

"Look," Tatsumaki said before she paused for a long while. "Never mind let's go. I could use some time away even if it is a little rustic. I'll go pack my swimsuit." With those parting words she flew up and headed off in the direction that I knew from experience led to her house.

"Yeah rustic," I said slowly watching her fly away. I had called in a favour from Metal Knight to have it built. The amenities in this particular hideout would have put some five star hotels to shame. After all I fucking hate camping also.

**Author Note: As I write this King Takes God has become my most favorited story surpassing my first and longest story with a quarter of the word count. My first chapter saved on my computer is still called 'Chapter one and only'. I guess you never can predict what people will like and the fact that I managed to put out so many chapters is testament to the power of reviews and favourites.**

**MEODP was selected as I realised that it fit the themes of the story but alternately both Alchemy and AT-Fields were two powers that I considered.  
If King had waited and overcharged his luck again he would have gained a powerful esper ability from A Certain Magical Index that has to do with narrative causality.**

**I've spoken too much for such a relatively short chapter. Once again from the bottom of my heart 'Thank you.'**


End file.
